Filippo Smaldone was an Italian Roman Catholic priest and the founder of the Salesian Sisters of the Sacred Hearts. Smaldone is best known for his extensive work with the deaf during his lifetime. Smaldone was a gifted preacher known for his commitment to proper catechesis and to the care of orphans and the mute, which earned him civic recognition.
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.
Mariano de la Mata Aparício, OSA was a Spanish 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.
Pius of Saint Aloysius was an Italian Roman Catholic professed cleric from the Passionists. He died before he could receive his ordination to the priesthood but in his short life managed to captivate people around him for his strong dedication to his order's charism and his deep faith.
Anna Maria Taigi was an Italian Catholic professed member from the Secular Trinitarians. Taigi reportedly experienced a series of ecstasies during her life and heard the voices of God and Jesus Christ on several occasions.
Paolo Manna was an Italian Roman Catholic priest and a member from the Pontifical Institute for Foreign Missions as well as the founder of the Pontifical Missionary Union. Manna worked in the missions in Burma and even served as the Superior General for PIME. Manna did much in his life to promote the missions and the evangelic and apostolic zeal that accompanied it and he established newspapers and movements to help promote this charismatic apostolate. He also held several leadership positions in PIME and used that standing in order to further engage with prospective missionaries.
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.
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. His beatification was celebrated in 2004.
Claudio Granzotto was an Italian professed religious from the Order of Friars Minor and a noted sculptor. Granzotto's works were a conduit for his religious expression and are reflective of his dedication to use sculpting to evangelize to others.
Luigi Maria Monti, CFIC was an Italian Roman Catholic professed religious and the founder of the Sons of the Immaculate Conception.
Luca Passi was an Italian priest and the founder of the Teaching Sisters of Saint Dorothy. Two brothers of his were priests – following the example of their paternal uncle – and Passi himself moved to Venice in order to dedicate himself to both his preaching and educational missions.
Filippo Rinaldi was an Italian Roman Catholic priest and a professed member from the Salesians of Don Bosco; he served as the third Rector Major for the order from 1922 until his death in 1931. He founded the Secular Institute of Don Bosco Volunteers. Rinaldi was close friends since his childhood to Giovanni Bosco and Paolo Albera and it was Bosco who guided Rinaldi who was torn in his adolescence between the farming life and the religious life. The order held him in high esteem from the outset and noted the potential within him as well as seeing the charism of Bosco encompassed in Rinaldi.
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.
Luigi Biraghi was an Italian Roman Catholic priest who served in his home of Milan. Biraghi later went on to establish his own religious congregation known as the Sisters of Saint Marcellina.
Luigi Tezza was an Italian Roman Catholic priest and a professed member of the Camillians. He established the Daughters of St. Camillus and is known as the Apostle of Lima. He was ordained in 1864 and went on to serve the sick and the poor in Peru where he administered. Tezza's new religious congregation was established with the sole aim of sick relief and followed the example of the Camillian order as a branch of it.
Josep Tous Soler was a Spanish Roman Catholic priest and a professed member of the Order of Friars Minor Capuchin - a branch of the Franciscan Order. Upon becoming a friar he was called by the religious name Josep of Igualada and went on to preach across both Spain and France.
Marta Anna Wiecka was a Polish Roman Catholic nun of the Vincentian Sisters. She assumed the name of "Maria" upon taking her vows. Wiecka worked throughout her life as a nurse in various hospitals in both Poland and Ukraine.
Blessed Luigi Monza was an Italian Roman Catholic priest and the founder of the Secular Institute of the Little Apostles of Charity. Monza's pastoral mission was defined with catering to the needs of the poor and the sick and used his new congregation as a means of spreading this mission.
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.
Artemide Zatti was an Italian Roman Catholic professed religious of the Salesians of Don Bosco and a noted pharmacist who emigrated to Argentina in 1897. Zatti became a professed Salesian in 1911 and became well known for his ardent faith and commitment to the sick. He was made a Saint on October 9, 2022 in the Catholic Church.
