Irmã Dulce Pontes
Brazilian Catholic Franciscan Sister (1914-1992)
Feast: 13 March (not on the universal Roman calendar; kept in the Roman Martyrology or local calendars)
The Vatican record
- 13 May 2019 — Miracle through their intercession approved (decree list, 2019)
Who they were
Maria Rita Lopes Pontes was born in Salvador, Bahia, Brazil, on 26 May 1914, and lost her mother at six. At about sixteen she began taking in poor children, adults and old people in the cellar of the family home. She joined the Missionary Sisters of the Immaculate Conception of the Mother of God, taking the name Dulce.
Her works for the poor and sick of Bahia grew into a great network; the new St Anthony's Hospital, opened on 8 February 1983, was called by the people of Bahia 'another miracle of Sister Dulce'. In her last illness, in October 1991, John Paul II visited her and said of her suffering: 'this is the suffering of the innocent, like that of Jesus.' She died on 13 March 1992.
The miracles
A person in Itabaiana — Itabaiana, Sergipe, Brazil — 12 January 2001
A healing at Itabaiana on 12 January 2001 was found by the Vatican's medical board in 2009 to be rapid, complete, lasting and medically inexplicable.
A man blind in one eye — Brazil — 10 December 2014
A man blind in his right eye from optic-nerve atrophy caused by end-stage glaucoma had his sight restored on 10 December 2014. On 10 January 2019 the Vatican's medical board found the case inexplicable.
Why that counted as sanctity
The case of a person in Itabaiana was examined by the Church's doctors and theologians and approved as a miracle on 10 December 2010, opening the way to beatification. Beatification followed on 22 May 2011. The case of a man blind in one eye was examined by the Church's doctors and theologians and approved as a miracle on 13 May 2019, opening the way to canonisation. Canonisation followed on 13 October 2019 by Francis.
Connected on this site
- John Paul II Saint“At the time of her death in 1992, Pontes had been nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize, she had received two personal audiences with Pope John Paul II, and she had played a huge role in creating one of the largest and most respected philanthropic organizations in Brazil.” — Wikipedia
- Dicastery for the Causes of Saints - biography of St Dulce Lopes Pontes, with both miracles
- Dicastery for the Causes of Saints — promulgated decrees (causesanti.va), summarised in our own words
- Wikidata Q461850 — dates, feast day and identifiers (CC0)
- English Wikipedia — Dulce de Souza Lopes Pontes (CC BY-SA)
Checked against the sources listed on 21 September 2026. Corrections welcome.