'Any time I've asked Padre Pio has helped' - Catholic Herald Online - 0 views
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Sue Cifelli on 20 Sep 08"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
