Elvira Petrozzi (born Rita Agnese Petrozzi; 21 January 1937 – 3 August 2023) was an Italian Roman Catholic nun. A member of the Sisters of Divine Charity, she was known as "the sister of drug addicts" and the founder of the , which specialised in helping drug addicts.

Biography

Born in Sora on 21 January 1937 to an alcoholic father, Petrozzi and her family fled to

Alessandria Alessandria (; ) is a city and commune in Piedmont, Italy, and the capital of the Province of Alessandria. It is also the largest municipality of the region. The city is sited on the alluvial plain between the Tanaro and the Bormida rivers, ...

during

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. She claimed to have "never thought of learning to read or study". In 1956, at the age of 19, she joined the Sisters of Divine Charity in addition to working as a caregiver at a nursery. On 16 July 1983, Petrozzi founded the Communità Cenacolo in an 18th-century house in

Saluzzo Saluzzo (; ) is a town and former principality in the province of Cuneo, in the Piedmont region, Italy. The city of Saluzzo is built on a hill overlooking a vast, well-cultivated plain. Iron, lead, silver, marble, slate etc. are found in the su ...

. She first intended to create a community for marginalized young people, but turned to helping young drug addicts, eventually devoting herself to the latter. On 16 July 2009, the community was recognized by the

Pontifical Council for the Laity The Pontifical Council for the Laity was a pontifical council of the Roman Catholic Curia from 1967 to 2016. It had the responsibility of assisting the Pope in his dealings with the laity in lay ecclesial movements or individually, and their ...

as a private international association of the faithful. By 2013, there were sixty Cenacolo communities, with a presence in Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Slovenia, Austria, Poland, Russia, Ireland, France, the United States, Mexico, the Dominican Republic, and Brazil. Elvira Petrozzi died in Saluzzo on 3 August 2023, at the age of 86.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Petrozzi, Elvira 1937 births 2023 deaths 20th-century Italian Roman Catholic religious sisters and nuns 21st-century Italian Roman Catholic religious sisters and nuns People from Sora, Lazio