For the last five years, Mrs. Zimmerman also says she has been "channeling" Padre Pio, letting the dead Italian Catholic saint mystically speak through her. It is a "gift," she said, and although she never asked for it she believes she must use it to help others, especially children.
It was the fifth or sixth time she has publicly channeled Padre Pio, a Capuchin friar from Pietrelcina, Italy, who was known for bearing stigmata, or the wounds of Christ, on his hands and feet. He died in 1968 at age 81 and was canonized by Pope John Paul II in 2002. Mrs. Zimmerman said in a recent interview that although she doesn't channel Padre Pio publicly very often, she hears from him almost daily.
"He'll make these pithy little comments. He has a wonderful sense of humor," she said. "One of the things that he insists is that we breathe deeply and we laugh - love, laugh, and breathe are his three words."
But Padre Pio told her - "and I'm using 'telling' as a verb because I don't know what else to say," Mrs. Zimmerman explained - that he has no control over her, she can break it off at any time, and that he would never interfere with anybody's free will.
Mrs. Zimmerman said she channels other spirits besides Padre Pio. Every Saturday, for example, she channels her mother, who died two years ago, by typing out a letter to her surviving father, which she has collected in a looseleaf binder. She also channels her late husband, John, who "crossed over" 16 years ago.
"All presidential elections are a reflection of the way the world is at the moment. They all speak of change," Mrs. Zimmerman said while channeling. "So if you're looking for change, you have a wide path. They are all having their plans, their paths. Which one do you feel comfortable with? That, my brother, is your choice and I cannot tell you that.
Regarding the Sept. 11, 2001, tragedy, Mrs. Zimmerman said while channeling that everyone who "transitioned" that day went immediately "home," or into heaven, "including those who perpetrated this particular incident. They didn't have their 21 virgins in their party but they were celebrated for three days in partying and love and acceptance because they did what they thought they were supposed to do."
"More and more kids are coming to me who are hearing voices or who are seeing spirits, some of them both, and lately I've asked him [Padre Pio] if this is an area that I'm being directed towards and he said, 'Absolutely. That's one of the reasons why you're here, to help these kids understand that it's a gift and it's not a fearful thing.
