larger numbers of women away. It got to a point where his fellow friars posted a sign on the door of the church which read: “By Padre Pio’s explicit wish, women must enter the confessional wearing skirts at least 8 inches below the knee. It is forbidden to borrow longer dresses in church and to wear them to confession”. Why 8 inches below the knee? Simply because the miniskirt recently introduced was brazenly announcing 8 inches above the knee… If those whom he refused asked why he treated them in this manner, St Pio would answer: “Don’t you know what pain it costs me to shut the door on anyone? The Lord has forced me to do so. I do not call anyone, nor do I refuse anyone either. There is someone else who calls and refuses them. I am His useless tool”23. Indeed, would it have been right to grant these women absolution while dressed in an indecent manner? To absolve from sins a woman who, just before entering and just after leaving the confessional, could be the cause of sins in others? Which brings back again the question of immodest dresses at weddings. Is it right for a woman to stand before God’s altar with her maids of honour to receive the sacrament of matrimony while at the very same time being an occasion of sin by her immodest dress? 58
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