Gianna Beretta Molla was an Italian Roman Catholic pediatrician. Although aware of the fatal consequences, Molla refused both a termination of pregnancy and a hysterectomy during her pregnancy with her fourth child. Molla's medical career followed the teachings of the Roman Catholic Church; she believed in following her conscience while coming to the aid of others who required assistance. Molla also dedicated herself to charitable work amongst the elderly and was involved in Catholic Action; she also aided the Saint Vincent de Paul group in their outreach to the poor and less fortunate.
Mariam Thresia was an Indian Syro-Malabar Catholic professed religious and the founder of the Congregation of the Holy Family. She was born in Puthenchira, a village of Kerala, India. Thresia Mankidiyan became known for receiving frequent visions and ecstasies as well as even receiving the stigmata which she kept well-guarded. She had been involved in apostolic work her entire life and pushed for strict adherence to the rule of her order amongst her fellow religious.
Giovanni Antonio Farina was an Italian Catholic bishop known for his compassionate treatment of the poor and for his enlightened views of education; he was sometimes dubbed as the "Bishop of the Poor". He served as the Bishop of Vicenza and later as the Bishop of Treviso; he is also known for ordaining the future Pope Pius X to the priesthood.
Karolina Gerhardinger was a German Roman Catholic religious sister who founded the School Sisters of Notre Dame. Gerhardinger served as an educator in Bavaria until the establishment of her order, which provided free education to the poor and soon expanded in Europe.
Riccardo Pampuri, OH - born Erminio Filippo Pampuri was an Italian medical doctor and a veteran of World War I who was also a professed member from Hospitallers of Saint John of God. Pampuri worked as a field doctor on the battlefield during the Great War and was discharged in 1920 when he was able to resume his studies and soon begin his own practice as a doctor where he tended to the poor without charge. He became a member of the Third Order of Saint Francis as "Antonio" while founding the Band of Pius X which he dedicated to the medical care of poor people. But Pampuri later became a professed religious for the call was too great for him to ignore; he managed a free dental clinic in Brescia for his order.
María Bernarda Bütler, born Verena Bütler, was a Swiss religious sister. She founded the Franciscan Missionary Sisters of Mary Help of Sinners and served in the missions in Ecuador and Colombia. Bütler worked for the care of the poor in these places until her exile from Ecuador and entrance into Colombia where she worked for the remainder of her life. The congregation moved there with her, and continued to expand during her time there until her death.
Cándida María de Jesús, born Juana Josefa Cipitria y Barriola, was a Spanish nun and the founder of the Daughters of Jesus. The order – founded in 1871 – was under Jesuit direction from her spiritual director and was involved with the education of children in Salamanca though expanded during her lifetime.
Arcangelo Tadini was an Italian Roman Catholic priest. Tadini was ordained as a priest in 1870 and went on to found a religious congregation dedicated to the poor and ill while taking advantage of the Industrial Revolution to support women in work and education. Tadini was disabled due to a lame leg he had after suffering an accident while he studied for the priesthood. He initiated various parish initiatives and a relief fund for the aged and the ill.
Tommaso Reggio was an Italian Roman Catholic prelate who served as the Archbishop of Genoa from 1892 until his death. He was also the founder of the Sisters of Saint Martha. Reggio distinguished himself during an earthquake that struck his diocese in 1887. He tended to the injured in the rubble and led initiatives to direct diocesan resources towards the displaced and the injured; while in Genoa he collaborated with Bishop Giovanni Battista Scalabrini in tending to immigrants through a range of different pastoral initiatives.
Gaetana Sterni was an Italian Roman Catholic professed religious and the founder of the Sisters of Divine Will. Sterni's life became marred due to the deaths of close relations including her husband and sole child which prompted her to look towards an apostolate to aid others and to ease others' sufferings. The order she founded was dedicated to total consecration to Jesus Christ and to an active apostolate of evangelic zeal.
Giovanni Battista Piamarta was an Italian Roman Catholic priest and educator. Piamarta was also the founder of the Congregation of the Holy Family of Nazareth. Piamarta established his congregation in 1900 in order to promote Christian education across the Italian peninsula. Piamarta also founded the Humble Servants of the Lord.
María del Carmen Sallés y Barangueras, also known by her religious name Carmen of Jesus, was a Spanish Roman Catholic professed religious and the founder of the Missionary Sisters of the Immaculate Conception. Sallés is best known for being a strong advocate of both genders being equal and a staunch defender of the rights of women, since she made this the focus of her life from the beginning of her entrance into the religious life.
María Guadalupe García Zavala – born Anastasia Guadalupe García Zavala – was a Mexican Roman Catholic religious sister and the co-founder of the Handmaids of Santa Margherita and the Poor. She is also known as "Mother Lupita". At one time, she was engaged to be married but she decided her religious call was too strong for that and she broke off her engagement in order to pursue this call. She dedicated herself to the care of ill people and was noted for her compassion and faith.
Assunta Marchetti was an Italian Roman Catholic religious sister and the co-founder of the Missionary Sisters of Saint Charles Borromeo Scalabrinians; she worked in Brazil from 1895 until her death. She has been beatified as a Blessed Mother. Her priest brother Giuseppe is titled as Venerable on the path to sainthood.
Maria Katharina Kasper – born Katharina but in religion known as Schwester / sister Maria – was a German Roman Catholic religious sister and the founder of the Poor Handmaids of Jesus Christ. Kasper entered the religious life later in her life despite having harbored a desire to become a religious sister for a very long time. It did not materialize earlier due to aggravating circumstances such as the Kaspers' poor economic status and the deaths of both a brother and her father. Her dedication to the poor and the will was noted during the course of her life and she dedicated herself to this work with great zeal.
Antonia Maria Verna was an Italian Roman Catholic religious sister and the founder of the Suore di carità dell'Immacolata Concezione. Verna left her hometown when she was fifteen due to increasing offers of marriage and returned sometime later when she decided to pursue her religious vocation. Her emphasis was on catechism and founded her religious congregation to better teach catechism to children as well as to tend to ill people.
Rosa Maria Benedetta Gattorno Custo was an Italian Roman Catholic who was widowed and later became a nun. She was also the founder of the Daughters of Saint Anne and assumed the new name of "Anna Rosa" after she had established her order and made her religious profession as a nun. Her order - after her death - expanded in Europe and other parts of the world.
Giuditta Vannini – also known as Giuseppina – was an Italian Roman Catholic nun who became a Camillian. Together with Luigi Tezza she established the religious congregation known as the Daughters of Saint Camillus. She and her two siblings were orphaned as children and were placed in different homes; she was raised and educated in Rome under nuns where her vocation to the religious life was strengthened. Vannini later tried joining a religious order but was forced to leave during her novitiate period after suffering from ill health. She and Tezza met in 1891 and founded a religious congregation of which Vannini served as Superior General until her death while Tezza was exiled to Peru around 1900.
Clelia Merloni was an Italian Roman Catholic nun and the founder of the Apostles of the Sacred Heart of Jesus. Merloni was destined to follow her father into the business world but renounced his anti-religious sentiment and instead went down the religious path. Internal complications led to Merloni's fall from grace and she went into self-imposed exile where she received a dispensation to break from her religious vows. She later rejoined the congregation as a nun not long before her death.
Elisabetta Maria Satellico – in religious Maria Crocifissa – was an Italian Roman Catholic professed religious from the Poor Clares who served as her convent's abbess.
