Anna Maria Rubatto (14 February 1844,

Carmagnola Carmagnola (; ) is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Metropolitan City of Turin in the Italian region Piedmont, located south of Turin. The town is on the right side of the Po river. The nature of the soil determined over time how the river's ...

– 6 August 1904,

Montevideo Montevideo (, ; ) is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Uruguay, largest city of Uruguay. According to the 2023 census, the city proper has a population of 1,302,954 (about 37.2% of the country's total population) in an area of . M ...

) was an Italian Roman Catholic

nun A nun is a woman who vows to dedicate her life to religious service and contemplation, typically living under vows of poverty, chastity, and obedience in the enclosure of a monastery or convent.''The Oxford English Dictionary'', vol. X, page 5 ...

who assumed the name Maria Francesca of Jesus. She was the founder of the

Capuchin Sisters of Mother Rubatto The Capuchin Sisters of Mother Rubatto () are a religious institute of pontificial right (acronym S.C.M.R.).''Ann. Pont. 2007'', p. 1542. It was established at Loano on 23 January 1885.DIP, vol. II (1975), coll. 200–201, voce a cura di Maria ...

. Most of her work was done in

Uruguay Uruguay, officially the Oriental Republic of Uruguay, is a country in South America. It shares borders with Argentina to its west and southwest and Brazil to its north and northeast, while bordering the Río de la Plata to the south and the A ...

where she died at the age of 59 in 1904.

Pope John Paul II Pope John Paul II (born Karol Józef Wojtyła; 18 May 19202 April 2005) was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 16 October 1978 until Death and funeral of Pope John Paul II, his death in 2005. In his you ...

beatified her on 10 October 1993 and she is considered the first Uruguayan person to be beatified.

Pope Francis Pope Francis (born Jorge Mario Bergoglio; 17 December 1936 – 21 April 2025) was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 13 March 2013 until Death and funeral of Pope Francis, his death in 2025. He was the fi ...

confirmed her canonization after approving a miracle attributed to her in early 2020; her canonization was celebrated on 15 May 2022.

Life

Anna Maria Rubatto was born in Carmagnola in 1844 to Giovanni Rubatto and Catarina Pavesio as one of eight children; she lost her father at the age of four. She received a marriage offer while a teenager but turned the offer down in favor of her religious vocation. Her mother died when she was nineteen and she moved to

Turin Turin ( , ; ; , then ) is a city and an important business and cultural centre in northern Italy. It is the capital city of Piedmont and of the Metropolitan City of Turin, and was the first Italian capital from 1861 to 1865. The city is main ...

where she became a friend of noblewoman Marianna Scoffone. Rubatto helped Scoffone with teaching

catechism A catechism (; from , "to teach orally") is a summary or exposition of Catholic theology, doctrine and serves as a learning introduction to the Sacraments traditionally used in catechesis, or Christian religious teaching of children and adult co ...

to children and visiting the sick and poor. Scoffone died in 1882. One morning after mass in

Loano Loano () is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Province of Savona in the Italian region Liguria, located about southwest of Genoa and about southwest of Savona. Loano borders the following municipalities: Bardineto, Boissano, Borghetto Sant ...

a stone fell from a construction site and struck a worker. Rubatto helped the worker and the sisters of the convent close to the incident noticed what had happened. The sisters took it as a sign that Rubatto was the person the sisters needed. She took the name of "Maria Francesca of Jesus" when she became a nun in 1885. On the orders of Bishop Filippo Allegro she became the superior of the group. This became the

. In 1892 she travelled to

and spread their apostolate there and in

Argentina Argentina, officially the Argentine Republic, is a country in the southern half of South America. It covers an area of , making it the List of South American countries by area, second-largest country in South America after Brazil, the fourt ...

. She contracted

cancer Cancer is a group of diseases involving Cell growth#Disorders, abnormal cell growth with the potential to Invasion (cancer), invade or Metastasis, spread to other parts of the body. These contrast with benign tumors, which do not spread. Po ...

while in Montevideo and she died in 1904 at the age of 60. She is buried in Montevideo as per her requests.

Canonization

The cause for beatification commenced under

Pope Paul VI Pope Paul VI (born Giovanni Battista Enrico Antonio Maria Montini; 26 September 18976 August 1978) was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 21 June 1963 until his death on 6 August 1978. Succeeding John XXII ...

on 13 April 1965 which conferred upon her the title of

Servant of God Servant of God () is a title used in the Catholic Church to indicate that an individual is on the first step toward possible canonization as a saint. Terminology The expression ''Servant of God'' appears nine times in the Bible, the first five in ...

. This introduction took place despite the fact that the cause had opened processes in

Genoa Genoa ( ; ; ) is a city in and the capital of the Italian region of Liguria, and the sixth-largest city in Italy. As of 2025, 563,947 people live within the city's administrative limits. While its metropolitan city has 818,651 inhabitan ...

and Montevideo that spanned from 1941 to 1970. The processes were ratified on 12 December 1975. The

Positio A ''positio'' (short for the Latin ''positio super virtutibus'': "position on the virtues") is a document or collection of documents used in the process by which a Catholic person is declared Venerable, the second of four steps on the path to can ...

- documentation on her life of

heroic virtue Heroic virtue is the translation of a phrase coined by Augustine of Hippo to describe the virtue of early Christian martyrs. The phrase is used by the Roman Catholic Church. The Greek pagan term hero described a person with possibly superhuman a ...

- was submitted to the

Congregation for the Causes of Saints In the Catholic Church, the Dicastery for the Causes of Saints, previously named the Congregation for the Causes of Saints (), is the dicastery of the Roman Curia that oversees the complex process that leads to the canonization of saints, passi ...

in 1984.

recognized her heroic virtue and proclaimed her to be

Venerable ''The Venerable'' often shortened to Venerable is a style, title, or epithet used in some Christianity, Christian churches. The title is often accorded to holy persons for their spiritual perfection and wisdom. Catholic In the Catholic Churc ...

on 1 September 1988. A miracle attributed to her intercession was investigated in Genoa in 1951 and was ratified on 12 November 1991. John Paul II approved it on 2 April 1993 and beatified her on 10 October 1993. A second miracle needed for her canonization was discovered and an investigation was held. That process was ratified in 2013.

approved this miracle on 21 February 2020 and Rubatto was canonized on 15 May 2022.

References

External links

Hagiography CircleSaints SQPN
{{DEFAULTSORT:Rubatto, Maria Anna 1844 births 1904 deaths People from Carmagnola Religious leaders from Turin Italian beatified people Italian Roman Catholic saints 19th-century venerated Christians 20th-century venerated Christians 19th-century Italian Roman Catholic religious sisters and nuns Founders of Catholic religious communities Uruguayan beatified people Venerated Catholics by Pope John Paul II Canonizations by Pope Francis Italian emigrants to Uruguay Uruguayan Roman Catholic saints Capuchin missionaries

Life

Canonization

See also

References

External links