Annibale Maria di Francia
founder of the Roagationist Fathers (1851–1927)
Feast: 1 June (not on the universal Roman calendar; kept in the Roman Martyrology or local calendars)
Who they were
Annibale Maria Di Francia was born at Messina on 5 July 1851, son of a noblewoman and of the Marquis of Santa Caterina dello Ionio, and lost his father at fifteen months. That early loss gave him a special tenderness for orphans all his life.
Ordained on 16 March 1878, he was led by a chance meeting with an almost blind beggar into Messina's poorest quarter, the Case Avignone, and spent himself there for the poor and orphans through every kind of hostility. He founded the Rogationist Fathers and the Daughters of Divine Zeal, and prayed tirelessly for vocations.
The miracles
The Dicastery's biography does not describe the miracles approved in the cause.
Why that counted as sanctity
He saw Jesus Christ in the poor and the outcast, and joined the preaching of the Gospel to practical help for them.
- Dicastery for the Causes of Saints - biography: Annibale Maria Di Francia
- Wikidata Q566864 — dates, feast day and identifiers (CC0)
- English Wikipedia — Annibale Maria di Francia (CC BY-SA)
Checked against the sources listed on 21 September 2026. Corrections welcome.