Francesco Pianzola
Italian priest (1881–1943)
Feast: 4 June (not on the universal Roman calendar; kept in the Roman Martyrology or local calendars)
Who they were
Francesco Pianzola was born at Sartirana Lomellina near Pavia on 5 October 1881 and, despite poor health, was ordained at Vigevano on 16 March 1907.
As rector of the shrine of the Immaculate in Vigevano he gathered the Oblate Fathers for an itinerant apostolate in the countryside and founded the Missionary Sisters of the Immaculate Queen of Peace. A tireless preacher and educator of the young, he died at Mortara on 4 June 1943.
The miracles
A decree on a miracle for his beatification was issued; the biography does not describe it.
Why that counted as sanctity
A tireless preacher who took the Gospel on the road to the rural poor.
- Dicastery for the Causes of Saints - biography: Francesco Pianzola
- Wikidata Q1441188 — dates, feast day and identifiers (CC0)
- English Wikipedia — Francesco Pianzola (CC BY-SA)
Checked against the sources listed on 21 September 2026. Corrections welcome.