Rome, Italy, Mar 30, 2004 / 22:00 pm
Responding to a request by civil authorities, the Italian Bishops Conference has announced St. Pio of Pietralcina will be named patron saint of volunteerism in Italy.
According to the statement from the bishops Conference, the famous Italian saint known around the world simply as Padre Pio, “will inspire a deeper sense of charity and solidarity to the projects and emergency interventions which the department of Civil Protection and volunteer associations are called to provide.”
The director of the Italian Civil Protection, Guido Bertolaso, had made the request to the Italian bishops, who in turn submitted the proposal to Vatican, which recently granted approval.