World Diocese / Parish News

Photo : Congregation for the Causes of Saints / CNA

Mar 19, 2021 (CNA) : Among the seven clerics and religious whose heroic virtues were recognized by the Vatican on Thursday are three Italian religious sisters who died while serving victims of the Ebola virus in the Democratic Republic of the Congo in 1995.

The Congregation for the Causes of Saints promulgated a decree March 18 recognizing the heroic virtues of seven clerics and religious.

The religious sisters -- Sr. Annelvira Ossoli, Sr. Vitarosa Zorza, and Sr. Danielangela Sorti -- were members of the Sisters of the Poor, Palazzolo Institute. They contracted and died of Ebola while serving the poor. Three of their fellow religious who also died of Ebola were recognized for their heroic virtue Feb. 20.

The six religious sisters died while attending to Ebola patients at a hospital in the Diocese of Kikwit between April 25 and May 28, 1995.

They had reportedly assisted in an operation on a patient who, unbeknownst to them, had the Ebola virus.

Following the death of the six religious and the resultant uncertainty about the Ebola epidemic, the Palazzolo Sisters in the DRC wrote a fax to their Mother General in Bergamo, saying, in part, “We understand your trepidation, but we are totally in God's hands. No evacuation can be done. It is very hard for you and us to accept this separation from the Sisters.”

Founded in 1869 by Italian Priest, Blessed Luigi Maria Palazzolo, the Sisters of the Poor serve the poor, orphans, and the sick.

Source : CNA