Francesco Maria di Francia, Date of Birth, Place of Birth, Date of Death

Francesco Maria di Francia

Italian presbyter

Date of Birth: 19-Feb-1853

Place of Birth: Messina, Sicily, Italy

Date of Death: 22-Dec-1913

Profession: presbyter

Zodiac Sign: Pisces

Francesco Maria di Francia (19 February 1853 - 22 December 1913) was an Italian Roman Catholic priest and the founder of the Capuchin Sisters of the Sacred Heart.
He formed a close bond with his older brother (canonized in 2004) and the two studied together under a priest uncle.
He tried music after experiencing doubts about his vocation but continued his studies leading to his ordination in Messina where he would spend his entire life ministering to people.
He aided the ill during a cholera epidemic while in 1908 aiding in rescue and reconstruction efforts following a violent earthquake.
Di Francia also taught moral theological studies to seminarians for a time before being given a role in archdiocesan curial affiars some months before his death from a heart attack.The beatification process for the late priest opened in the mid-1980s (he became titled as a Servant of God) after his order lobbied for a cause to be opened in the Messina-Lipari-Santa Lucia del Mela archdiocese.
The cause culminated on 19 March 2019 after Pope Francis acknowledged his life of heroic virtue and so titled him as Venerable.