ROME, APR 26 (ZENIT).- "The first time I heard about Padre Pio was in the
Paris home of some friends. They had a book on him which I found in their
library. It was 1968 and I was 19 years old. I was an agnostic dreaming of
becoming a composer. I asked them who he was. 'An Italian priest, but we
are not quite sure what he does,' they replied. With the little bit of
money I had, I set off for San Giovanni Rotondo to find out for myself ..."
This was the beginning of Jean-Marie Benjamin's spiritual journey. Among
his musical compositions is the UNICEF Hymn. He is also a film director and
television producer. In fact, on April 27, RAI -- the Italian public
television channel will transmit 'The Night of the Prophet: Padre Pio of
Pietrelcina.' The video version of this work has already sold 140,000
copies. And it all began during that dinner in Paris ...
Padre Pio, Francesco Forgione, was born in Pietrelcina on May 25, 1887.
After entering the Capuchin order, he was ordained a priest on August 10,
1910. That same year he received the stigmata, a mysterious phenomenon
common among mystics.
The miraculous phenomena that radiated from his person, as well as his
extraordinary ability as a confessor, was reflected in the crowds of people
who streamed to his monastery, San Giovanni Rotondo. Padre Pio began his
significant apostolic work, the House for the Relief of Suffering, a very
large hospital which could easily become one of the best in Europe thanks
to the donations of the faithful. It was inaugurated on May 5, 1956. Padre
Pio died on September 23, 1968.
On Sunday, May 2, John Paul II will beatify Padre Pio. If current estimates
are accurate, the anticipated crowds will be the largest in Roman religious
history.
Attracted by the life of Padre Pio, who in 1968 was in the last months of
his life, Benjamin not only went to San Giovanni Rotondo, but he got in
line to go to confession with the famous Capuchin. It was the month of
February of that year. Padre Pio was already ill and tired. Benjamin was
asked about the last time he had been to confession; he gave an answer out
of the blue. Padre Pio shook his head and told Benjamin to think again. The
penitent gave another date, but Padre Pio would still not accept it. In the
end, the confessor came up with the exact date.
"You are French," the Capuchin said. And he advised him to go to confession
to a French priest. "He said good-bye and rapped me on the head."
"A few months later, when I heard the news of his death, I remembered his
advice. I got up the courage and found a church to go to confession. There
were two confessionals; I chose one of them. 'Padre Pio sent me,' I told
the confessor. The priest came out of the confessional immediately: he was
the representative in France of the House for the Relief of Suffering."
And this is how the relationship between Benjamin and his spiritual
director began. "You are not ready for the priesthood. If God wants you, he
will call you," his confessor told Benjamin at the time.
Jean-Marie Benjamin dedicated his life to composing music: classical,
soundtracks, popular songs. He moved to Rome in 1975. Thirteen years later,
in 1988, he spent a whole year studying theology in a cell in a Dominican
monastery. On October 26, 1991 he was ordained a priest.
After some years of intense work with the former Vatican Secretary of
State, Cardinal Agostino Casaroli, Father Benjamin moved to Assisi where he
created the Tau Production, which is a company dedicated to the production
of films like 'The Night of the Prophet.'
We made the film with very little money. Many have worked virtually for
free. To produce it, I mortgaged my house. But I thought, "Padre Pio will
help us if he approves of the project."
And the theme? "It is the story of a journalist who, in 1948, had to do
research on Padre Pio. The camera follows the reporter in his research,
which includes scenes of Padre Pio's infancy. The film could not be made in
San Giovanni Rotondo, because it's always full of pilgrims. Instead,
Benjamin found a village near Assisi."
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