Padre Pio, also known as Saint Pius of Pietrelcina, was an Italian Franciscan Capuchin, friar, priest, stigmatist, and mystic, today regarded as a saint in the Catholic Church. When he joined the Order of Friars Minor Capuchin, his birth name was changed to Pius (Italian: Pio). For the most of his life, Padre Pio displayed stigmata, which sparked a great deal of interest and controversy. Pope John Paul II had him beatified in 1999 and canonized in 2002.