Capuchin Franciscan Father John Aurilia – the former assistant to St Padre Pio whose final interview last October on the Wilmington’s Diocese’s Catholic Forum broke records as it was viewed nearly 300,000 times – 13 died January in Wilmington. He was 85.
Father Aurilia worked for St Padre Pio (St Pio of Pietrelcina) in 1967 when Padre Pio, the Italian Capuchin friar, priest, stigmatist and mystic lived in San Giovanni Rotondo, Italy.
Father Aurilia was most recently living and writing at St Francis of Assisi Friary in Wilmington and is the author of “Dearest Soul: A Spiritual Journey with Padre Pio” published by OSV Books.
He was featured 24 September on the YouTube podcast produced by the Diocese of Wilmington Office of Communications.
In the interview, he described the extraordinary mystical gifts of the saint, how his most outstanding gift was his humility and what Padre Pio was like in his day-to-day life.
Father Aurilia was born 8 December, 1940, in Montemarano, Italy, where he entered the Capuchin Franciscan order and was ordained a priest in 1966. After working with Padre Pio, he came to the United States to work with the Italian-speaking community in northern New Jersey.
