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.
Blessed Anton Martin Slomšek was a Slovene Roman Catholic prelate who served as the Bishop of Lavant from 1846 until his death. He served also as an author and poet as well as a staunch advocate of the nation's culture. He served in various parishes as a simple priest prior to his becoming a bishop in which his patriotic activism increased to a higher degree since he advocated writing and the need for education. He penned textbooks for schools including those that he himself opened and he was a vocal supporter of ecumenism and led efforts to achieve greater dialogue with other faiths with an emphasis on the Eastern Orthodox Church.
Léon-Gustave Dehon, SCJ, also known as Jean of the Sacred Heart, was a French Catholic priest and the founder of the Congregation of the Sacred Heart of Jesus.
Gaetano Catanoso was an Italian Catholic priest and the founder of the Suore Veroniche del Santo Volto (1934). Catanoso served as a parish priest in two different parishes for his entire ecclesial life and was an ardent devotee of the Face of Jesus which he promoted to the faithful. He also founded the Poor Clerics to encourage vocations to the priesthood while forming the Confraternita del Santo Volto (1920) to spread devotion to the Face of Jesus. He dedicated his pastoral career to bringing the Gospel message to all people and hiked or rode on a mule to reach distant and surrounding mountain villages in order to evangelize to people.
Mariano de la Mata Aparício was a Spanish Roman Catholic priest and a professed member of the Order of Saint Augustine. He joined the missions in Brazil where he served until his death and was known for his educational work with the poor. His age and diminishing health was no obstacle for him throughout his time in Brazil and it did not hinder his efforts to visit the sick or go out to be with the people he looked after.
Szymon of Lipnica was a Polish catholic priest and a professed member from the Order of Friars Minor. He became a sought after and noted preacher and took as his preaching inspiration Saint Bernardine of Siena and also was a strong proponent of popular devotions that he worked to spread.
Louis-Zéphirin Moreau was a Canadian Roman Catholic prelate who served as the fourth Bishop of Saint-Hyacinthe from 1875 until his death in 1901. He was also the cofounder of the Sisters of St. Joseph of St. Hyacinthe, an congregation he founded with Élisabeth Bergeron, and the founder of the Sisters of Sainte Martha. Moreau was a frail child due to being born premature and so could not help his farmer parents work on their land. He dedicated himself to his studies and later his ecclesial studies despite the fact that illness forced him to slow down his studies which impeded on his progress to ordination. But a benefactor, Jean-Charles Prince, Coadjutor Bishop of Montreal, saw him advance towards his ordination and he served as an aide to several bishops in the diocesan secretariat and later as a diocesan vicar general.
Candelaria de San José was a Venezuelan religious sister and the founder of the Carmelite Sisters of Venezuela - also known as the Carmelites of Mother Candelaria. The death of her parents in 1870 and 1887 prompted her to assume household responsibilities though in 1900 set her heart on aiding others in her area; this started in 1903 when she served as the director of a new hospital though she also tended to ill people during epidemics and conflicts that broke out over time.
Jacques-Désiré Laval was a French Roman Catholic priest who served in the missions in Mauritius; he was a professed member from the Spiritans. He is known as the "Apostle of Mauritius" due to his tireless work in aiding the poor and ill. Laval also educated the flock he was assigned to for those people were uneducated and were former slaves for the most part. His skills in medicine made him a distinguished figure in the region since his expertise allowed him to tend to those who suffered illness that manifested more so during times of an epidemic.
José Olallo Valdés, OH was a Cuban professed religious and a professed member from the Brothers Hospitallers of Saint John of God. Olallo was dubbed as the "Poor People's Priest" even though Olallo was not an ordained priest - he was even encouraged to become one but refused. Olallo served as a nurse for his entire life and dedicated himself to the care of the ill and the poor and remained a pivotal figure in the hospital that he worked at.
Stanisław Kazimierczyk was a Polish Catholic priest and a professed member of the Canons Regular of the Lateran. He became noted for his ardent devotions to both the Eucharist and to his personal patron saint, Stanislaus of Szczepanów, as well as for his charitable dedication to the ill and poor of Kraków.
Edmund Bojanowski was a Polish Roman Catholic and the founder of four separate religious congregations. He studied art and literature during his education in Breslau and Berlin before distinguishing himself during a cholera epidemic in which he tended to the ill. Bojanowski founded several orphanages and libraries for the poor and even worked in them to provide for those people. But his main desire was to enter the priesthood: ill health blocked this once and his own death prevented his second attempt after his deteriorating health forced him to stop his ecclesial studies.
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.
Cristóbal of Saint Catherine – born Cristóbal López de Valladolid Orea – was a Roman Catholic Spanish priest and a professed member of the Third Order of Saint Francis. He was the founder of the Franciscan Hospitallers of Jesus of Nazareth which paid careful attention to both religious and social needs of the faithful.
María Dolores Rodríguez Sopeña was a Spanish Roman Catholic nun and the founder of the Sisters of the Catechetical Institute. Her religious activism came about from her earliest experiences in Almería where she tended to the poor including a leper though she later moved to Madrid and Puerto Rico where she continued her care for the poor and the sick. Her return to her native land saw her continue her work and her commitment to establishing religious and secular movements for others all directed towards active participation and care for poor people.
Jean-Bernard Rousseau was a French Roman Catholic professed religious of the Institute of the Brothers of the Christian Schools – or the De La Salle Brothers. He assumed the religious name of "Scubilion" upon his profession and was dubbed the "Catechist of Slaves" due to his extensive decades-spanning work on Réunion Island.
Alphonse-Marie Eppinger, SDR; 9 September 1814 – 31 July 1867), born Elisabeth Eppinger, was a French Catholic nun and the founder of the Sisters of the Divine Redeemer.
Mariano de Jesús Euse Hoyos was a Colombian Roman Catholic priest ordained in 1872 for the Diocese of Santa Rosa de Osos. He worked in his parish as a staunch defender of the poor and of rural laborers - he himself came from rural origins - and encouraged popular devotions amongst the Colombian faithful.
The Martyrs of Laos are seventeen Catholic priests and professed religious as well as one lay young man venerated as martyrs killed in Laos between 1954 and 1970 of the First and Second Indochina Wars during a period of anti-religious sentiment under the Pathet Lao Theravada Buddhist-communist political movement.
Tiburcio Arnaiz Muñoz was a Spanish Roman Catholic priest and a professed member of the Jesuits. He was also the co-founder of the Missionaries of the Rural Parishes (1922) and decided to establish it to further his own pastoral goals of aiding the poor with a particular emphasis on workers and people living in those rural areas across the nation. His ecclesial career was spent in two parishes for just over a decade, before he entered the Jesuit novitiate. He became known for his tender care of all people.
