Forty-two yeafterfter his death, and eight years since his canonisation, Padre Pio's good works continue.
An ancestor inherited the island from his uncle Padre Nicolas Balli, who received it in a 1765 Spanish land grant.
His rich voice, vibrant with nuance and emotion, beautifully conveyed the poignancy of "Padre Adorato," in which Idamante sings of his distress at his father's apparent rebuff.
And in the opening track, "El Padre," the narrator imagines, Kafka-esquely, that he has turned into his father.
"Juan Balli had sold his share of Padre Island to Santiago Morales in the 1800's," Mr. Smith said.
John Chivington, the murderous parson; Charles Bent, first the owner of Bent's Fort and then the governor of New Mexico, and his great adversary, Padre Antonio Martínez, the enigmatic cura of Taos; the Navajo leader Manuelito; the diarist and correspondent Susan Magoffin; and many more.
I loved the open-air services conducted by the Padre, his battle-dress barely concealed beneath a cassock and stole blowing in the wind.
Styling himself the "Prostitutes' Padre", his declared mission was the rescue of young girls he considered in danger of falling into vice.
His 902 career appearances as a Padre extended his own MLB record for games pitched with one team.
His only disciple, Francesco Righi, and his most sympathetic patron, Padre Virgilio Spada, both died early in the decade.
