Benedetta Bianchi Porro
Venerated Catholic (1936–1964)
Feast: 23 January (not on the universal Roman calendar; kept in the Roman Martyrology or local calendars)
The Vatican record
- 7 November 2018 — Miracle through their intercession approved (decree list, 2018)
Who they were
Benedetta Bianchi Porro was born at Dovadola, near Forlì, on 8 August 1936. Illness marked her whole life, beginning with polio in infancy, which left her with a limp; in time she became almost blind.
Shortly before a pilgrimage to Lourdes she wrote that she was going 'to draw strength from the heavenly Mother'. She lived her illness with courage, strength and serenity, and died on 23 January 1964, aged 27.
The miracles
A university student — Genoa, Italy — August 1986
On 21 August 1986 a 20-year-old student riding a powerful motorbike was hit from behind by a car and thrown violently to the ground. His mother had heard of Benedetta a few days earlier; relatives and friends joined her in a novena, and during it his condition suddenly changed and he was found to be completely healed. On 25 January 2018 the Vatican's medical board found the healing rapid, complete, lasting and inexplicable.
Why that counted as sanctity
The case of a university student was examined by the Church's doctors and theologians and approved as a miracle on 7 November 2018, opening the way to beatification.
- Dicastery for the Causes of Saints - biography of Blessed Benedetta Bianchi Porro, with the miracle
- Dicastery for the Causes of Saints — promulgated decrees (causesanti.va), summarised in our own words
- Wikidata Q639507 — dates, feast day and identifiers (CC0)
- English Wikipedia — Benedetta Bianchi Porro (CC BY-SA)
Checked against the sources listed on 21 September 2026. Corrections welcome.