Bartolomea Capitanio

Bartolomea Capitanio (13 January 1807 – 26 July 1833) was an Italian Roman Catholic professed religious and the co-foundress of the Sisters of Charity of Lovere that she established with Vincenza Gerosa. Capitanio's rather short life was dedicated to the educational needs of children and the poor and she served as a teacher for most of her life while using her order to achieve this aim.

Pope Pius XI beatified her in 1926 and Pope Pius XII canonized her - alongside her old friend Gerosa - in 1950.

Life Bartolomea Capitanio was born in Bergamo in 1807 as the eldest of seven children to the merchant Modesto Capitanio and his second wife Caterina Casnossi; she had two brothers and four sisters. All her siblings died as infants except for Camilla. Her father ran a business dealing in grain and also a small greengrocers. Her mother educated her children with great care and also a deep faith. Her father soon became an alcoholic and became aggressive at home.

School

Bartolomea Capitanio is also the name of a school in the Amapá state in Brazil.

Sainthood The beatification process started under Pope Pius IX on 8 March 1866 and she became titled as a Servant of God while the confirmation of her heroic virtue allowed for Pope Leo XIII to name her as Venerable on 6 January 1902; Pope Pius XI beatified her on 30 May 1926 while Pope Pius XII later canonized her as a saint - alongside Vincenza Gerosa - on 18 May 1950.