In March of 1899, Grazio Forgione, father of Francesco Forgione (now known as Saint Pio or Padre Pio) moved to New Castle, PA to work on a local farm in the Mahoningtown area of the city in order to send money back to Italy so that his son, Francesco, could meet the educational requirements to enter the Capuchin Order of Priests. And the rest, as they say, is history, with Francesco going on to the priesthood and becoming one of the world's most beloved modern saints.

Descendants of the Forgione Family still reside in New Castle to this day and recently met with the Saint Pio Foundation CEO, Luciano Lamonarca, to recount stories handed down through the years about Saint Pio.