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"They were so ecstatic, just over the moon with happiness and that is what makes this worthwhile." But Kathy says there are also sad moments. "You see people who have lost their loved ones, their children have run away. They have fallen away from their faith. They come here - the people who have had abortions, who have brain tumours - but they get solace and the strength to cope with it and there have been a lot of cures. The shop is open all day six days a week and it's just a constant point for many people where they know they can come and pray." Dog toys litter the floor of the shop and visitors need to beware of stepping on doggie tails. Jasper, the King Charles Spaniel, and Shannon, the German Shepherd cross, are as much part of the shop as Kathy and Padre Pio. A string of dogs have populated the shop over the years and visitors from abroad, returning after many years absence, come to see them as old friends. Kathy's father bred Kerry Blue terriers and she's always had dogs. Many of the people who visit the shop regularly come to see the dogs, not her, she says. When she arrived in London she was surprised that no one had heard of Padre Pio, who was still alive at the time. In Ireland, she says, everyone was aware of the miracle-working friar. Stella Lilley, who founded the Padre Pio Information Centre in the UK in 1972, knew a lot about the friar and Kathy started learning more. Eventually Stella was asked to open a Padre Pio shop to promote his Cause and Kathy, who was running a pub with her husband, helped her set it up. She never dreamed that she would be running it one day. In the 1990s Stella's husband became ill and she couldn't run the shop anymore. A buyer was found but he was going to get rid of Padre Pio. Kathy was horrified when she heard the news from a friend after Mass at Westminster Cathedral. How could the shop continue to run without Padre Pio? The shop was Padre Pio. Then someone suggested Kathy take on the challenge of the bookshop. Her

Waves from Hurricane Ike lash Texas coast Texas faces "potentially catastrophic" damage when Hurricane Ike hits in the next few hours, US Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff has warned. He said as many as 100,000 homes could be destroyed by flooding. There are fears the hurricane could cause a high storm surge that leaves miles of low-lying coast underwater. Residents of the Texan coastal city of Galveston face "certain death" if they do not evacuate, the National Weather Service has warned. Hurricane Ike could have 'catastrophic effects' At 0000 GMT on Saturday, the "very large" hurricane was about 100 miles (160km) south-east of Galveston, with winds around 110 mph (175km/h). The massive system is already buffeting Texas and causing flooding along the Louisiana coast, still recovering from last weekend's Hurricane Gustav. More than a million people in Texas have been advised to leave their homes before Ike hits late on Friday or early Saturday morning. But people in Houston city have been told to shelter at home, board up their properties and stockpile supplies. Authorities are trying to avoid a repeat of 2005, when some 110 people in Houston died during a chaotic evacuation in the face of Hurricane Rita. Enlarge Map The US National Hurricane Center said Ike could grow from a Category Two to a Category Three storm - a "major hurricane" - by the time it reaches the coast. Ike has already caused devastation in Cuba and Haiti, where hundreds of people have died in several tropical storms over the last month. The hurricane's predicted path will take it through Galveston and on to Houston, home to America's biggest oil refinery and Nasa's Johnson Space Center. "Our nation is facing what is by any means a potentially catastrophic hurricane," said Mr Chertoff. Latest Hurricane Ike weather forecast He added: "This storm is so big in fact that its impact is already being felt all along the Gulf Coast." The Texas authorities have laid on more t