Gianna Beretta Molla
Italian physician and mother who died protecting her unborn child, witnessing to faith and sacrifice.
Zaštitništvo
mothers, physicians, unborn children, married women
Vrline i osobine
Životopis
Gianna Beretta Molla (1922-1962) was an Italian pediatrician and married mother of three who exemplified holiness through everyday life. Born in Magenta, Italy, she earned her medical degree and practiced pediatrics with exceptional care and spiritual depth. She married engineer Pietro Molla in 1955 and embraced motherhood joyfully while continuing her medical practice. During her fourth pregnancy in 1961, she developed uterine cancer. Refusing both abortion and medical treatment that might harm her unborn child, Gianna chose to carry her daughter to term, undergoing only a necessary surgery. She delivered a healthy daughter but died days later from complications on April 28, 1962. Her witness to the sanctity of life and maternal sacrifice resonated globally, and she became the first physician-mother canonized in 1994, exemplifying holiness in the modern world.