Livingston Catholics: The Fight’s Not Over, We Have No Intention of Turning Away from St. Padre Pio
Genoa Twp. board rejects Padre Pio call: The Catholic Church has owned the 40 Acre site for decades
GENOA TWP., Mich. — A new battle is brewing more than two decades after the Catholic Church bought 40 acres of land here as a place to heal and comfort broken souls.
Originally, the Diocese of Lansing planned a new parish (Livingston County was Michigan’s fastest-growing county), but then an economic “winter that never ends” hit Michigan from 2000–2010, and plans were shelved.
In 2019, Bishop Earl Boyea of Lansing, backed by nationally-known Cardinal Raymond Burke, blessed a Catholic Healthcare International plan to bring St. Padre Pio’s idea of “faithful Catholic healthcare” to America.
Boyea gifted the site toward the dream. Livingston Catholics have been actively involved with the effort, already praying at the site and walking its wooded trails.
The Genoa Twp. Board of Trustees, bowing to “not in my backyard” neighbors who prefer the land remain undeveloped, voted down plans for a small adoration chapel (replicating one built by Padre Pio also known as St. Pio of Pietrelcina) on a 5–2 vote May 3 after every…
