Pierina Morosini (7 January 1931 - 6 April 1957) was an Italian

Roman Catholic Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lette ...

from

Bergamo Bergamo (; lmo, Bèrghem ; from the proto- Germanic elements *''berg +*heim'', the "mountain home") is a city in the alpine Lombardy region of northern Italy, approximately northeast of Milan, and about from Switzerland, the alpine lakes Como ...

. She was killed after a man tried to rape her. Morosini served as a member of the

Catholic Action Catholic Action is the name of groups of lay Catholics who advocate for increased Catholic influence on society. They were especially active in the nineteenth century in historically Catholic countries under anti-clerical regimes such as Spain, Ita ...

movement. Her beatification was held on 4 October 1987 in

Saint Peter's Basilica The Papal Basilica of Saint Peter in the Vatican ( it, Basilica Papale di San Pietro in Vaticano), or simply Saint Peter's Basilica ( la, Basilica Sancti Petri), is a church built in the Renaissance style located in Vatican City, the papal e ...

Life

Pierina Morosini was born in Fiobbio on 7 January 1931 as the first of nine children to the farmers Rocco Morosini and Sara Noris. Her

baptism Baptism (from grc-x-koine, βάπτισμα, váptisma) is a form of ritual purification—a characteristic of many religions throughout time and geography. In Christianity, it is a Christian sacrament of initiation and adoption, almost inv ...

was celebrated on 8 January 1931 in the local parish church in the name of "Pierina Eugenia". She received her

confirmation In Christian denominations that practice infant baptism, confirmation is seen as the sealing of the covenant created in baptism. Those being confirmed are known as confirmands. For adults, it is an affirmation of belief. It involves laying on ...

on 10 January 1937 from the

Bishop of Bergamo The Diocese of Bergamo ( la, Dioecesis Bergomensis; it, Diocesi di Bergamo; lmo, Diocesi de Bergum) is a Episcopal see, see of the Catholic Church in Italy, and is a suffragan of the Archdiocese of Milan.Adriano Bernareggi Adriano Bernareggi (9 November 1884 – 1953) was an Italian Catholic archbishop. Biography Born in Oreno, near Milan, was the brother of future bishop Domenico Bernareggi. He was ordained a Roman Catholic priest in 1907. He graduated from Pont ...

and made her

First Communion First Communion is a ceremony in some Christian traditions during which a person of the church first receives the Eucharist. It is most common in many parts of the Latin Church tradition of the Catholic Church, Lutheran Church and Anglican Communi ...

in May 1938. Morosini lived her childhood near the mountains during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

and soon became a member of

in 1942 where she became an active member. She later became a seamstress on 18 March 1946 after the conflict and worked in a textile plant in Albino. The next month she was hospitalized for a brief period after an accident and there met the Capuchin

priest A priest is a religious leader authorized to perform the sacred rituals of a religion, especially as a mediatory agent between humans and one or more deities. They also have the authority or power to administer religious rites; in particu ...

Luciano Mologni who became her

spiritual director Spiritual direction is the practice of being with people as they attempt to deepen their relationship with the divine, or to learn and grow in their personal spirituality. The person seeking direction shares stories of their encounters of the di ...

. Morosini left her village once in her entire life in order to attend the beatification of Maria Goretti in

Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus (legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...

in 1947 and made the pilgrimage there with other Catholic Action members from 25 to 30 April. Each morning before work she received the

Eucharist The Eucharist (; from Greek , , ), also known as Holy Communion and the Lord's Supper, is a Christian rite that is considered a sacrament in most churches, and as an ordinance in others. According to the New Testament, the rite was instit ...

and recited

rosaries The Rosary (; la, , in the sense of "crown of roses" or "garland of roses"), also known as the Dominican Rosary, or simply the Rosary, refers to a set of prayers used primarily in the Catholic Church, and to the physical string of knots or b ...

back and forth from home to work. Morosini began to wear the Brown scapular and joined the Third Order of Saint Francis while her 1950 attempt to convince her parents to allow her to join a religious order in Bergamo failed. On 4 April 1957 she was walking home just before 3 pm and a man came up to her. He made lewd comments to her and tried to rape her despite her attempts to reason with him; she failed to escape but was stoned in the attempt. Morosini attempted to defend herself and she was beaten to death with stones in which her skull was smashed. Her brother found her in a pool of blood and called for help and she was rushed to hospital at once. Morosini died without regaining consciousness at the Bergamo hospital on 6 April 1957 from her injuries. Her remains were later relocated on 10 April 1983.

Beatification

The diocesan process spanned from 7 April 1980 until 28 May 1983.

Pope John Paul II Pope John Paul II ( la, Ioannes Paulus II; it, Giovanni Paolo II; pl, Jan Paweł II; born Karol Józef Wojtyła ; 18 May 19202 April 2005) was the head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 1978 until his ...

confirmed that Morosini had died "in defensum castitatis" and therefore beatified Morosini on 4 October 1987 in

References

External links

Beata Pierina Morosini
(Italian)

Saints SQPN
{{DEFAULTSORT:Morosini, Pierina 1931 births 1957 deaths 20th-century Roman Catholic martyrs 20th-century venerated Christians 20th-century Italian people Beatifications by Pope John Paul II Deaths by stoning Italian beatified people Italian murder victims People murdered in Italy People from Albino, Lombardy Venerated Catholics Violence against women in Italy