In pictures: Padre Pio on display

The body of the Catholic saint, Padre Pio, has gone on display in Italy, dressed in robes and his face covered in a silicone mask.

Thousands of visitors queued to see the body following an open-air mass in San Giovanni Rotondo, in Puglia.

The Capuchin monk had a considerable following for what appeared to be bleeding wounds on his hands and feet, similar to those associated with the crucifixion of Jesus.

Sceptics accused him of faking the marks, known as stigmata, and Church officials say the exhumed body bears no trace of them.

More than a million Catholic pilgrims are expected to make the trip to see his body, which was unearthed in March.

The cleric, who died in 1968, was made a saint by Pope John Paul II in 2002.

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