The New Castle connection of a venerated Roman Catholic saint will be celebrated March 9 at St. Mary’s Church. St. Pio — born Francesco Forgione in Pietrelcina, Italy, and later known as Padre Pio. never actually set foot in town. However, his father, Grazio Forgione, came to Mahoningtown, PA in 1899, working on a farm and sending money back to Italy to fund his son’s education so that Francesco could meet the academic requirements to enter the Capuchin order. 

According to the website of the Saint Pio Foundation, Grazio Forgione lived and worked on “a farm owned by a family named Myers. He and some relatives were living in a frame house on Montgomery Street, where he was put in charge of other farmlands.”