Chiara Corbella Petrillo

Chiara Corbella Petrillo (9 January 1984 – 13 June 2012) was an Italian Catholic public speaker and a mother known for her faith amidst her battle with cancer.

Chiara met her future husband Enrico Petrillo in 2002 when both were on a pilgrimage to Medjugorje. Both Chiara and Enrico were admirers of the Franciscans and made several pilgrimages to Assisi. They were married on 21 September 2008, with her spiritual director officiating, a Franciscan friar. The pair had two children in 2009 and 2010, who both died within half an hour of their births due to medical complications which were diagnosed when Chiara was pregnant. Chiara and Enrico took to speaking at pro-life events in Rome following the births and deaths of their first two children. When Chiara conceived a third child, once again she was diagnosed with medical issues during her pregnancy that turned out to be carcinoma, later deemed to be terminal. The cancer spread to places such as her tongue and liver, which made sight and talking troublesome as the illness progressed.

Biography Chiara Corbella was born on 9 January 1984 in Rome as the second of two children to Roberto Corbella and Maria Anselma Ruzziconi; her elder sister being Elisa. Her baptism was celebrated on 5 February at the Roman church of Santi Marcellino e Pietro al Laterano, where she also received her First Communion on 29 May 1994 and her Confirmation on 8 October 1995. Her remains are interred with those of her two children at the Campo Verano cemetery in Rome.

Cause of beatification The beatification process was opened in Rome on 2 July 2018 after Cardinal Angelo De Donatis issued an edict that established the cause would be introduced in Rome and also naming Corbella as a Servant of God. Cardinal De Donatis presided over the opening of the diocesan process on 21 September 2018 in the Basilica of Saint John Lateran and hoped that Christians would "find in her encouragement and support in the service of conjugal love and life". The postulator appointed for this cause is Romano Gambalunga OCD.