AFP, Warsaw :
A Polish archbishop on Saturday denounced a conservative priest from the devout Catholic country who last month wished Pope Francis a speedy death if he did not open himself up to wisdom.
“It is with great pain and regret that I learnt of the recent remarks made by Father Edward Staniek about Pope Francis,” Krakow archbishop Marek Jedraszewski said in a statement.
Local media reported Friday that Staniek had delivered a homily last month in which he said: “I pray for wisdom for the pope, for his heart to open up to the Holy Spirit, and if he does not do that, I pray for his quick departure to the House of the Father.”
“I can always ask God for a happy death for him, because a happy death is a great grace,” he added at a church in Krakow, southern Poland.
According to monks, the last demonic tussle was in 1964, when they heard him calling from his cell at night.
They found him on the floor, his forehead split open. He told them “The Devil tried to scratch out my eyes.”
The next day, the Devil is said to have spoken through a possessed person, saying “I went to visit somebody. I took revenge.”
Pio’s body was exhumed in 2008 and partially reconstructed with a life-like silicone mask. It is preserved in a temperature-controlled glass coffin. Pilgrims toss money and notes to the saint over a wrought-iron fence.
Thousands of Padre Pio prayer groups exist around the world. One group came from Nashville in the United States.
