The process of beatification and canonization has undergone various reforms in the history of the Roman Catholic Church. For current practice, as well as a discussion of similar processes in other churches, see the article on canonization. This article describes the process as it was before the promulgation of the Codex Iuris Canonici of 1983.
Gennaro Maria Sarnelli was an Italian Roman Catholic priest and a professed member from the Redemptorists. Sarnelli was one of Alphonsus Maria de' Liguori's earliest companions and a prolific writer on a range of religious topics. He wanted to become a Jesuit though was dissuaded from this before working in the Hospital of the Incurables where he call to the priesthood blossomed. His apostolic zeal knew no limits: he preached missions and aided his friend Liguori in his work; he tended to the sick and helped to get girls out of prostitution despite the threats levelled against him.
Giuseppe Toniolo was an Italian Roman Catholic economist, sociologist, and pioneer of Christian democracy. A leading political and social economist, Toniolo condemned both socialism and laissez-faire capitalism, advocating instead for an economic system in which social, judicial, and economic forces cooperate proportionately for the common good. Toniolo was an early Catholic advocate of labour unions and social reform. Describing the economy as an "integral part of the operative design of God," his work was inspired by Catholic social teaching.
Francesco Spoto was an Italian Catholic priest who served in the missions in the Democratic Republic of Congo and was killed there. He was also a professed member from the Missionary Servants of the Poor.
Alain de Solminihac was a French Roman Catholic religious reformer and served as the Bishop of Cahors from 1636 until his death.
Clelia Barbieri was an Italian Roman Catholic and the founder of the Little Sisters of the Mother of Sorrows.She is regarded as the youngest founder of a religious congregation in the history of the Catholic church, as she was just twenty-three when she died. Barbieri declined the married life in her adolescence – even when pressured – in favor of leading a life dedicated to the needs of others; she served as an educator for a while and joined a religious movement which made her a notable figure in her village.
Gaspare Luigi Bertoni, CSS was an Italian Catholic priest and the founder of the Congregation of the Sacred Stigmata, also known as the Stigmatines.
Angelo Paoli – born Francesco – was an Italian Roman Catholic priest and a professed member from the Carmelites. Paoli became known as the "father of the poor" due to his strong charitable outreach towards those who were poor and sick, for which he received praise from a number of cardinals and other prelates while living in Rome. This extended to his friend Cardinal Giuseppe Maria Tomasi and to popes Innocent XII and Clement XI who both offered him the cardinalate, which he refused.
Luigi Guanella was an Italian Roman Catholic priest. He was ordained a priest on May 26, 1866 in Como, and was assigned to a small parish in Savogno. Luigi is the founder of several religious institutes: the Daughters of Saint Mary of Providence (1890) and the Servants of Charity alongside his friends David Albertario and Giuseppe Toniolo. Guanella also founded the Pious Union of Saint Joseph (1914) with his supporter and first member Pope Pius X. These religious communities focused on the relief of the poor throughout the world. The Servants of Charity motto reads "In Omnibus Charitas", which became the cornerstone for Guanella's own life.
Luigi Talamoni was an Italian Roman Catholic priest and the founder of the Merciful Sisters of Saint Gerard. Talamoni also held civic office for a brief period though later resigned due to the rise of Fascism in the area and dedicated his career to proper care for the poor and to the maintenance of civic infrastructure.
Giuseppina Suriano was an Italian Roman Catholic member of the Catholic Action. Suriano was born to simple farmers near Palermo and became a noticeable and integral figure in Catholic Action during her life while also working alongside the Young Catholic Action movement for a brief period of time.
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.
Giuseppe Benedetto Dusmet – born Giuseppe Dusmet – was an Italian Roman Catholic cardinal who served as the Archbishop of Catania from 1867 until his death. He became professed into the Order of Saint Benedict where he took "Benedetto" as his religious name. He studied under the Benedictines prior to joining them before serving as a professor in addition to prior and abbot. His elevation to the episcopate saw him distinguish himself in cholera epidemics when he tended to the ill while also remaining a strong advocate for the poor of his archdiocese. He remained a Benedictine and was known to continue to don the Benedictine habit instead of the red cardinal's regalia.
Eugenia Maria Ravasco was an Italian Roman Catholic nun of the Ravasco Institute that she herself had established - the order was also known as the Daughters of the Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary and was founded in the Archdiocese of Genoa where she spent most of her life.
Giuseppe Giaccardo was an Italian Roman Catholic priest and a professed member of the Society of Saint Paul that Giacomo Alberione established. Giaccardo became the latter's closest aide and confidant and was involved in promoting the congregation and the Pauline charism. His profession into the order saw him assume the religious name of "Timoteo".
Giovanni Maria Boccardo was an Italian Roman Catholic priest, brother of Luigi Boccardo, and the founder of the Poor Daughters of Saint Cajetan. Boccardo tended to victims of a cholera epidemic in 1884 and was forced to resign all positions in his parish in 1911 due to illness that confined him to his bed. He was the elder brother of Blessed Luigi Boccardo.
Giuseppe Baldo was an Italian Roman Catholic priest and the founder of both the Little Daughters of Saint Joseph (1894) and the Sisters of Charity of Saint Mary (1882). Baldo served as a simple parish priest in the Diocese of Verona and tended to the old and the poor.
Marcantonio Durando was an Italian Roman Catholic priest and a professed member of the Congregation of the Mission in an effort to follow the teachings of Vincent de Paul - an ardent focus of his life and pastoral career. Durano was also the founder of the Daughters of the Passion of Jesus the Nazorean (1865) - or Nazarene Sisters - and founded that order with the assistance of Luigia Borgiotti (1802-1873).
Mariano da Roccacasale - born Domenico di Nicolantonio - was an Italian Roman Catholic professed religious from the Order of Friars Minor. He was of peasant stock and entered the order in his twenties as a professed religious rather than as an ordained priest. He was an influence in the decision of Giuseppe Oddi joining the Franciscans after their 1863 encounter.
Vincenzina Cusmano was an Italian Roman Catholic professed religious from the Sisters Servants of the Poor. Her brother was Giacomo Cusmano; she joined his religious congregation as the two tended to the poor in Palermo. Her original intention was to become a cloistered Carmelite nun though was forced to abandon this desire after her mother died; her mother's death during an epidemic meant that she had to assume care for her siblings since she was the eldest one. Cusmano tended to the poor in Palermo and often worked alongside her brother in this venture until his death in 1888; she continued his work as the Superior General for her order until her own death.
