The Minims, officially known as the Order of Minims, and known in German-speaking countries as the Paulaner Order, are a Roman Catholic religious order of friars founded by Francis of Paola in fifteenth-century Italy. The order soon spread to France, Germany and Spain, and continues to exist today.
Francis of Paola, OM, was a Roman Catholic friar from the town of Paola in Italy who founded the Order of Minims. Like his patron saint, but unlike the majority of founders of men's religious orders, Francis of Paola was never ordained a priest.
The Venerable is a style, title, or epithet used in some Christian churches.
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.
Magdalena di Canossa was an Italian religious sister and the foundress of the two Canossian congregations. Magdalena was a leading advocate for the poor in her region after she witnessed first hand the plight of the poor following the spillover effects of the French Revolution into the Italian peninsula through the Napoleonic invasion of the northern territories. Canossa collaborated with humanitarians such as Leopoldina Naudet and Antonio Rosmini in her mission of promoting the needs of the poor and setting a new method of religious life for both men and women.
San Francesco da Paola ai Monti is an 18th-century titular church in Rome. It is dedicated to St Francis of Paola, the founder of the Order of Minims, whose friars serve this church and whose Generalate is attached to it, and is located in the Monti rione.
Tommaso da Cori - born Francesco Antonio Placidi - was an Italian Roman Catholic priest and a professed member of the Order of Friars Minor who lived as a hermit for much of his religious life. He gained fame as a noted preacher throughout the region where his hermitage was located and for this became known as the "Apostle of the Sublacense".
Alfonso Maria Fusco was a Roman Catholic priest and the founder of the Sisters of Saint John the Baptist – also known as the Baptistine Sisters. Their mission was to evangelize and educate as well as to promote the faith amongst adolescents with a particular emphasis on those who were poor or abandoned.
Angelo Paoli, O.Carm – born Francesco – was an Italian Catholic priest and a professed member from the Carmelites. Paoli became known as the "father of the poor" due to his strong charitable outreach, 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.
Vincenzo Romano – born Vincenzo Domenico Romano – was an Italian Roman Catholic priest born in Torre del Greco in Naples. Romano was a parish priest of the village of Herculano who was noted for his simplistic and frugal manner of living and for his great care of orphans. But the French invaders in his area in addition to some of the Italian political groups oppressed him and his work. The people of Torre del Greco granted him the nickname "The Worker Priest" due to Romano's tireless work with the poor and for his commitment to the social needs of all people in the Neapolitan region. He was also noted for his efforts in rebuilding much of Naples following the 1794 eruption of Mount Vesuvius in which he himself cleared rubble and organized rebuilding efforts.
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.
Amato Ronconi was an Italian Catholic who became a professed member of the Secular Franciscan Order. Ronconi lived a life of penitence and dedicated all his works to the poor through the construction of chapels and hospitals – one such hospital still exists in his home of Rimini. The residents in this town recognised his good deeds and hailed Ronconi as a saint in his own lifetime.
Maria Teresa Casini was an Italian nun and was the founder of the Oblate Sisters of the Sacred Heart of Jesus. The order was devoted to providing care for those around them with an added emphasis on demonstrating the love of Jesus Christ while spreading the message of the Gospel to the public.
Pio Alberto del Corona - born Alberto del Corona and in religious Pio - was a Roman Catholic Italian prelate and the founder of the Suore Domenicane dello Spirito Santo. He served as the Bishop of San Miniato from 1897 until his resignation one decade later. The bishop served as a humble pastor though reluctant as he was to accept his episcopal appointment while even protesting against an idea to elevate him into the cardinalate. He exercised his duties until ill health forced him to resign from his see though was given a ceremonial position since Pope Pius X did not wish to relieve him of all his episcopal duties and functions.
Francesco Antonio Marcucci was a Roman Catholic Italian bishop and a member of the Secular Franciscan Order. Marcucci was also the founder of the Pious Workers of Mary Immaculate.
Angelo Francesco Ramazzotti was an Italian Roman Catholic prelate who served as the Patriarch of Venice. He established the Pontifical Institute for Foreign Missions in 1850. Ramazzotti had served as the Bishop of Pavia prior to his relocation to Venice and died less than a week before Pope Pius IX was scuttled to make him a cardinal.
Vincenzo Grossi was an Italian Roman Catholic priest and the founder of the Daughters of the Oratory.
Nunzio Sulprizio was an Italian Roman Catholic from Pescara who worked as an apprentice blacksmith. He suffered from poor health during his brief life and was considered to those who knew him to be a gentle and pious individual.
Francesco Spinelli was an Italian Roman Catholic priest and the founder of the Sisters Adorers of the Blessed Sacrament. Spinelli became close contemporaries of Geltrude Comensoli and Luigi Maria Palazzolo and had a previous collaboration with Comensoli in which the two established a religious institute in Bergamo before a rift between members caused Spinelli to distance himself from its work and leave.
Luca Antonio Falcone – in religious life Angelo – was an Italian Roman Catholic priest and a professed member of the Franciscan Order of Friars Minor Capuchin in Cosenza. Falcone had a rough call to religious life after several entries and exits into the order and he later served as a noted preacher across southern Italian cities such as Catanzaro and Salerno after his first few sermons attracted little following. He became titled as both the "Angel of Peace" and the "Apostle of the South".
