Feastday: April 28
Patron: of mothers, physicians, and unborn children
Birth: October 4, 1922
Death: April 28, 1962
Beatified: April 24, 1994 by Pope John Paul II
Canonized: May 16, 2004 by Pope John Paul II
St. Gianna Beretta Molla was an Italian pediatrician born in Magenta in the Kingdom of Italy on October 4, 1922. She was the tenth of thirteen children in her family.
At three-years-old, Gianna and her family moved to Bergamo, and she grew up in the Lombardy region of Italy.
As a young girl, Gianna openly accepted her faith and the Catholic-Christian education provided to her from her loving parents. She grew up viewing life as God's beautiful gift and found the greatest necessity and effectiveness in prayer.
In 1942, Gianna began her study of medicine in Milan. She was a diligent and hardworking student, both at the university and in her faith.
As a member of the St. Vincent de Paul Society, Gianna applied her faith in an apostolic service for the elderly and needy.
She received degrees in both medicine and surgery from the University of Pavia in 1949, and in 1950 she opened a medical office in Mesero, near her hometown of Magenta.
In 1952, Gianna specialized in pediatrics at the University of Milan and from there on, she was especially drawn toward mothers, babies, the elderly and the poor.
Gianna considered the field of medicine to be her mission, and treated it as such. She increased her generous service to Catholic Action, a movement of lay Catholics dedicated to living and spreading the Social Teaching of the Catholic Church in the broader culture. The Catholic Action movement is still at work today, throughout the world.
Gianna hoped to join her brother, a missionary priest in Brazil, where she intended to offer her medical expertise in gynecology to poor women.
However, her chronic ill health made this impractical, and she continued her practice in Italy.
She chose the vocation of marriage and considered this to be a gift from God. Gianna embraced this gift with all her being and completely dedicated herself to "forming a truly Christian family."
In December 1954, Gianna met Pietro Molla, an engineer who worked in her office. They were officially engaged the following April, and married in September 1955, making Gianna a happy wife.
Gianna wrote to Pietro, "Love is the most beautiful sentiment that the Lord has put into the soul of men and women."
In November 1956, Gianna became a mother to her first child, Pierluigi. Their second child, Maria Zita, in December 1957, and their third, Laura, in July 1959.
Gianna handled motherhood with grace and was able to harmonize all aspects of her demanding life.
In 1961, Gianna became pregnant with her fourth child. Toward the end of her second month of pregnancy, Gianna was struck with an unimaginable pain.
Her doctors discovered she had developed a fibroma in her uterus, meaning she was carrying both a baby and a tumor.
After examination, the doctors gave her three choices: an abortion, which would save her life and allow her to continue to have children, but take the life of the child she carried; a complete hysterectomy, which would preserve her life, but take the unborn child's life, and prevent further pregnancy; or removal of only the fibroma, with the potential of further complications, which could save the life of her baby.
Catholic teaching affirms what medical science, the Natural Law, the Bible and unbroken Christian tradition affirm, the child in the womb has a fundamental Human Right to Life. Wanting to preserve her child's life, Gianna opted for the removal of only the fibroma.
In fact, she was willing to give her own life to save the life of her child.
Gianna pleaded with the surgeons to save her child's life over her own. She sought comfort in her prayers and her living faith.
The child's life was saved, for which Gianna graciously thanked the Lord.
After the operation, complications continued throughout her pregnancy, but Gianna spent the remainder of her pregnancy with an unparalleled strength and insistent dedication for her tasks as a mother and a doctor.
A few days before the baby was to be born, Gianna prayed the Lord take any pain away from the child. She recognized she may lose her life during delivery, but she was ready.
Gianna was quite clear about her wishes, expressing to her family, "If you must decide between me and the child, do not hesitate: choose the child?I insist on it. Save the baby."
On April 21, 1962, Gianna Emanuela Molla successfully delivered by Caesarean section.
The doctors tried many different treatments and procedures to ensure both lives would be saved. However, on April 28, 1962, a week after the baby was born, Gianna passed away from septic peritonitis. She is buried in Mesero.
Gianna was beatified by Pope John Paul II on April 24, 1994, and officially canonized as a saint on May 16, 2004. Her husband and their children, including Gianna Emanuela, attended her canonization ceremony, making this the first time a husband witnessed his wife's canonization.
In 2003, mother-to-be Elizabeth Comparini experienced a tear in her placenta when she was 16-weeks pregnant. Her womb was drained of all amniotic fluid. She was told the chances of her baby's survival was little to none. Elizabeth is said to have prayed to Gianna Molla and asked for her intercession. Elizabeth was able to give birth to a healthy baby.
During Gianna's canonization ceremony, John Paul II described her as, "a simple, but more than ever, significant messenger of divine love."
St. Gianna is the inspiration behind the first pro-life Catholic healthcare center for women in New York, the Gianna Center.
St. Gianna Beretta Molla is the patron saint of mothers, physicians, and unborn children. Her feast day is celebrated on April 28.
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Gianna Beretta Molla (4 October 1922 – 28 April 1962) was an Italian Roman Catholic pediatrician. Molla refused both an abortion and a hysterectomy while pregnant with her fourth child despite knowing that her refusal could cause her own death—it indeed did. Molla's medical career went in tandem with teachings of the Roman Catholic Church, which strengthened her resolve to follow her conscience while coming to the aid of others who required assistance. These views came into focus when she decided to save the life of her final child rather than think of herself. Molla also dedicated herself to charitable work amongst older people and was involved in Catholic Action; she also aided the Saint Vincent de Paul group in their outreach to the poor and less fortunate.
Molla's beatification was celebrated in 1994 and she was canonized as a saint a decade later in mid-2004 in Saint Peter's Square.
Life
Gianna Beretta was born in Magenta on 4 October 1922 as the tenth of thirteen Catholic children (just eight survived into adulthood) to Alberto Beretta (d. 1 September 1942) and Maria de Micheli (c. 1887 – 1 May 1942) – both members of the Third Order of Saint Francis. One of her siblings was the Servant of God Enrico Beretta (28 August 1916 – 10 August 2001). Beretta's uncle was Monsignor Giuseppe Beretta and one relative was Father Giovanni Battista Beretta. Two other siblings were Giuseppe (a priest) and Virginia (a religious); another sister was Amelia (1910 – 22 January 1937). Her baptism was celebrated at the Basilica di San Martino on 11 October.
When she was three the Berettas relocated to Bergamo where she grew up. Beretta made her First Communion on 4 April 1928 and received her Confirmation in the Bergamo Cathedral on 9 June 1930 from Monsignor Luigi Maria Marelli. The Berettas moved to Genoa following the death of her sister Amalia in 1937 and sought residence in the Quinto al Mare neighbourhood where she attended school. She was an active participant in parish life in the parish of Saint Peter and Archbishop Mario Righetti had an active role in her spiritual formation until the Berettas returned to Bergamo in October 1941 to live with her maternal grandparents at San Vigilio. From 16 to 18 March 1938 she made the Spiritual Exercises of Saint Ignatius while 1938 to 1939 saw a suspension in her studies due to ill health.
In 1942 she began her studies in medicine in Milan. Outside of her schooling she was active in the Azione Cattolica movement. Beretta later received a medical diploma on 30 November 1949 from the Pavia college and opened an office in Mesero close to her hometown where she specialized in pediatrics in 1950. Beretta hoped to join her brother – a priest in the Brazilian missions – where she intended to offer gynecological services to poor women. However her chronic ill health made this an impractical dream but was content with continuing her practice. From 7 July 1952 she began to specialize in pediatrics at the Milanese college.
In December 1954 she met Pietro Molla (1912 – 3 April 2010) – an engineer – and the two became engaged the following 11 April. The pair later married on 24 September 1955 at the Basilica di San Martino in Magenta. The pair – on 25 September – were in Saint Peter's Square as part of their honeymoon. Molla gave birth to four children:
- Pierluigi (b. 19 November 1956)
- Mariolina (11 December 1957 – 12 February 1964)
- Laura (15 July 1959)
- Gianna (21 April 1962)
Her sisters-in-law were Luigia (who was a nun) and Teresina (d. 1950).
In 1961 – during the second month of her fourth and final pregnancy – Molla developed a fibroma on her uterus. The doctors gave her three choices following an examination: an abortion or a complete hysterectomy or the removal of the fibroma alone. The Church forbade all direct abortion but teachings on the principle of double effect would have allowed her to undergo the hysterectomy which would have caused her unborn child's death as an unintended consequence.
Molla opted for the removal of the fibroma since she wanted to preserve her child's life; she told the doctors that her child's life was more important than her own. On the morning of 21 April 1962 – Holy Saturday – Molla was sent to the hospital where her fourth child – Gianna Emanuela – was delivered via a Caesarean section. But Molla continued to have severe pain and died of septic peritonitis one week after giving birth in the morning of 28 April at 8:00am. Her daughter Gianna Emanuela still lives and is a doctor of geriatrics.
Her husband wrote a biographical account of her life in April 1971 and dedicated it to his children. He often told Gianna Emanuela that her mother's choice was one of conscience as both a loving mother and a doctor.
Canonization
The Mausoleum where her tomb is located
The Cardinal Archbishop of Milan Giovanni Colombo promoted the opening of a canonization cause on 6 November 1972 and it took a step forward on 11 April 1978 when Colombo and sixteen other bishops filed a petition to Pope Paul VI asking for him to initiate the cause of canonization.
The beatification process was opened under Pope John Paul II on 15 March 1980 and Molla became titled as a Servant of God; Carlo Maria Martini presided over the cognitional process of investigation from 30 June 1980 until 21 March 1986 at which stage all documents were sent to Rome for inspection. The Congregation for the Causes of Saints were convinced the process completed its investigations to an appropriate degree and so issued a decree of validation for the cognitional process on 14 November 1986. The postulation submitted the Positio dossier to the C.C.S. later in 1989 at which stage a team of theologians assessed and approved it on 14 December 1990; the C.C.S. soon followed on 18 June 1991. Molla became titled as Venerable on 6 July 1991 after John Paul II confirmed that she had lived a model Christian life of heroic virtue.
Molla's beatification depended upon a miracle – often a healing – that science and medicine cannot explain. One such case was investigated in Grajaú in Brazil from 30 November 1981 until 15 January 1982. Two additional supplementary processes were also held during this time with the first spanning from 30 October 1986 to November 1986 and the other from 8 August 1987 until 2 November 1987. The C.C.S. issued their decree of validation at the closure of these three investigations on 27 September 1991. Medical experts approved this miracle on 5 March 1992 as being one in which there was no possible explanation for it while theologians approved on 22 May 1992 the fact that the healing came after appealing for Molla's intercession. The C.C.S. members confirmed the findings of these two bodies on 17 November 1992 which allowed for them to also approve the cause. John Paul II issued his approval to this healing on 21 December 1992 and beatified Molla on 24 April 1994.
But a second miracle was needed for her to be elevated to sainthood. One such case came to the postulation's attention from Franca – also in Brazil – which promoted a diocesan investigation from 31 May to 1 August 2001. The closure of this investigation saw documents sent to the C.C.S. who validated the process later on 22 February 2002. Medical experts approved this miracle on 10 April 2003 as did the theologians on 17 October 2003 and the C.C.S. members on 16 December 2003. John Paul II granted the final approval needed for this on 20 December 2003 which confirmed that Molla was to be named as a saint; the formalization of this confirmation – in which a date was announced – came at an ordinary consistory held on 19 February 2004. Molla was proclaimed as a saint of the Roman Catholic Church in Saint Peter's Square on 16 May 2004.
Molla's husband and their children were present at the canonization. It was the first time that a husband had ever witnessed his wife's canonization.
Miracles
A medallion painting depicting Molla in Saint Patrick Church (Columbus, Ohio)
The miracle that led to her beatification involved the Protestant woman Lucia Sylvia Cirilo who gave birth to her fourth child – stillborn – on 22 October 1977. Cirilo was discharged from the hospital but began suffering from severe pains within a week that forced her brother to take her to the Saint Francis of Assisi hospital on 9 November. The doctors found an unseen complication that caused a rectal-vaginal fistula which was one that the hospital was not equipped enough to handle. She was told that she would need to be moved to the hospital at São Luís but she knew that she would not survive the trip there. One of the nurses – Sister Bernardina de Manaus – was so distressed about this that she appealed for the intercession of Molla while looking at a small picture of her. The nun asked two other nurses to follow her lead and the group soon discovered that Cirilo's pain had disappeared with the doctors amazed at the fact that the fistula had healed in full.
The miracle that led to her canonization involved Elizabeth Comparini who was sixteen weeks pregnant in 2000 from Franca in Brazil and sustained a tear in her placenta that drained her womb of all amniotic fluid. Comparini's doctors told her that the child's chance of survival was nil due to the weeks left prior to birth. Comparini said she appealed to the then-Blessed asking for her intercession and was able to deliver her child in perfect health despite the lack of amniotic fluid.
Legacies
The late Molla's example was hailed as courageous and her tale spread after her death. Pope Paul VI hailed her protection and love of life in his Angelus address on 23 September 1973.
Gianna Beretta Molla is the inspiration behind the Gianna Center in New York. It is the first pro-life and Catholic healthcare center for women in New York. The Gianna Center provides care with specialized gynecologic care. The saint is also the eponym of Saint Gianna's Maternity Home in Warsaw in North Dakota.
In September 2015 her daughter, Dr. Gianna Emanuela Molla, read a letter before Pope Francis during the 2015 World Meeting of Families in Philadelphia. The letter – which her mother wrote to her father not long before their marriage – highlighted the Christian virtues of marriage and called him and herself as a couple to serve God in a "saintly way" through what she called "the sacrament of love".
On November 1 (All Saints Day), 2019, her daughter, Dr. Gianna Emanuela Molla was the featured guest at the University of Mary's Candlelight Gala and granted permission (on behalf of the Molla Family) for the University of Mary to name its flagship School of Health Sciences after her mother, entrusting the students and faculty to St. Gianna as patroness, thus becoming the Saint Gianna School for Health Sciences.
