Gianna Beretta Molla
| Saint Gianna Beretta Molla | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Laywoman | |
| Born |
4 October 1922 Magenta, Kingdom of Italy |
| Died | 28 April 1962 (aged 39) Monza, Italy |
| Venerated in | Roman Catholic Church |
| Beatified | 24 April 1994, Saint Peter's Square, Vatican City by Pope John Paul II |
| Canonized | 16 May 2004, Saint Peter's Square, Vatican City by Pope John Paul II |
| Feast | April 28 |
| Patronage |
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Saint Gianna Beretta Molla (4 October 1922 – 28 April 1962) was an Italian pediatrician. When she was pregnant with her fourth child, Molla refused both an abortion and a hysterectomy, despite knowing that continuing with the pregnancy could result in her own death, as it in fact did.
She was canonized as a saint of the Roman Catholic Church in 2004.
Gianna Beretta was born in Magenta in the Kingdom of Italy in 1922. She was the tenth of thirteen children in her family, only eight of whom survived to adulthood. When she was three, her family moved to Bergamo, and she grew up in the Lombardy region of Italy. In 1942 Beretta began her study of medicine in Milan. Outside of her schooling, she was active in Azione Cattolica. She received a medical diploma in 1949, and opened an office in Mesero, near her hometown of Magenta, where she specialized in pediatrics. Beretta hoped to join her brother, a missionary priest in Brazil, where she intended to offer gynecological services to poor women. However, her chronic ill health made this impractical, and she continued her practice in Italy.
In December 1954, Beretta met Pietro Molla, an engineer who worked in her office and was ten years older than she. They were officially engaged the following April, and they married in September 1955. Molla gave birth to three children (Pierluigi in 1956, Mariolina in 1957 and Laura in 1959) before her final pregnancy.
In 1961 Molla was pregnant once again. During the second month she developed a fibroma on her uterus. After examining her, the doctors gave her three choices: an abortion, a complete hysterectomy, or removal of only the fibroma. The Catholic Church forbids all direct abortion but Catholic teaching on the principle of double effect would have allowed her to undergo a hysterectomy, which would have caused her unborn child's death as an unintended consequence.
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