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Today on Tapestry, the incredible story of Padre Pio, Italy's favourite saint.  Padre Pio, born in a small village in the south of Italy, was canonized by John Paul II in 2002. All over Italy, you'll see prayer cards, photographs, paintings and statues of Padre Pio. He is depicted as a gentle, smiling man with a beard, always wearing bandages - or mittens - on his hands. Padre Pio exhibited the signs of the stigmata - blood dripped from wounds in his palms, mimicking those suffered by Jesus Christ on the cross. Some believed Pio was touched by God; other said he was a fraud, even that he was deeply disturbed.

We hear the gripping story of Padre Pio's rise to fame and the controversies surrounding his life, from Italian historian Sergio Luzzatto, who has long been fascinated by the workings of culture and society on religious belief.

Luzzatto's biography, Padre Pio: Miracles and Politics in a Secular Age,  was recently translated into English. It has just won the $75,000 Cundill Prize, bestowed annually by McGill University to recognize academic and literary achievement in history.

We have 5 copies of the book to give to listeners, courtesy publisher Henry Holt. Just go to our Facebook page, and click on "like", to enter your name in a draw.