"Padre Pio" was born Francesco Forgione in 1887 in the small Italian village of Pietrelcina. A Capuchin priest who had received the stigmata, he spent fifty years at the monastery of San Giovanni Rotondo, where he was much sought after as a spiritual advisor, confessor, and intercessor. Despite such notoriety, he would often say, "I only want to be a poor friar who prays." His life was devoted to the Eucharist and to prayer. He died 23 September 1968 at age eighty-one. Pope John Paul II announced the inclusion of his Memorial in the General Roman Calendar in June, 2002. He is considered the patron saint of civil defense volunteers and Catholic adolescents.