Pope beatifies friar who healed his

friend• By Bruce Johnston in Rome and Joe Jenkins JOHN PAUL II beatified Padre Pio on Sunday, bringing the total number of men and women he has proclaimed "blessed" to 819.
The Pope first net the controversial Capuchin when a student, but omitted to mention to the 300,000 gathered in Rome for the ceremony — well below the one million anticipated — that the friar had cured a friend just hours before surgery on a tumour was due.
Padre Pio, who received the stigmata, or bleeding wounds of Christ, at 31, was beatified after the Church confirmed a posthumous miracle which it believes was the result of his intercession. While curing southern Italian Consiglia De IVIartino's lung condition in 1995 was grounds for beatification, confirmation of a second miracle is needed for full sainthood.
More than half of the pilgrims filled St Peter's Square for the two-hour ceremony, while the remainder watched on a huge screen outside the St John Lateran Basilica.