An estimated 3,000 people are expected to pass through the doors of Naperville’s Sts. Peter and Paul Catholic Church Tuesday for an encounter with the relics of St. Pio of Pietrelcina. Francesco Forgione, known as Padre Pio or St. Pio, was an Italian Franciscan Capuchin friar, priest and mystic who was beatified in 1999 and canonized in 2002 by Pope John Paul II. 

The display of the five pieces in Naperville is the only stop the relics will make in Illinois this year. Ron Frederick, a church parishioner who is part of the team that organized the stopover, said last time the relics came to town, the line wrapped around the church and 4,000 people graced the church sanctuary on a Friday in October 2018.