Ludovico of Casoria
Italian priest (1814–1885)
Feast: 30 March (not on the universal Roman calendar; kept in the Roman Martyrology or local calendars)
The Vatican record
- 15 April 2014 — Miracle through their intercession approved (decree list, 2014)
Who they were
Arcangelo Palmentieri was born in Casoria, near Naples, on 11 March 1814. After a short apprenticeship as a carpenter he joined the Franciscans, taking the name Ludovico, and was ordained in 1837; for years he taught chemistry, mathematics and physics.
From 1854 he gave himself to the poor: he ransomed African children sold as slaves and educated them, under the motto 'Africa will convert Africa', and founded two congregations, the Brothers of Charity and the Franciscan Sisters of St Elizabeth, with works for the sick, the blind, the deaf and old sailors. He died at the home for old sailors he had founded at Posillipo, Naples, on 30 March 1885, Monday of Holy Week.
The miracles
A Daughter of Charity — Salerno, Italy — 2 April 1885
Three days after Father Ludovico's death, a religious sister in Salerno was suddenly healed; the newspapers of the day reported it widely. More than a century later, on 5 December 1991, the Vatican's medical board found the sudden, complete and lasting healing unanimously inexplicable.
A newborn girl — Durazzano, near Benevento, Italy — June 1994
A baby girl born on 1 June 1994 had a severe congenital deformity of the right knee, bent back so far that her foot reached the height of her face; an orthopaedic specialist advised corrective plaster casts. On 12 June 1994 the knee was healed. The medical board found the healing scientifically inexplicable in 2012 and 2014.
Why that counted as sanctity
The case of a Daughter of Charity was examined by the Church's doctors and theologians and approved as a miracle, opening the way to beatification. Beatification followed on 18 April 1993 by John Paul II. The case of a newborn girl was examined by the Church's doctors and theologians and approved as a miracle on 15 April 2014, opening the way to canonisation. Canonisation followed on 23 November 2014 by Francis.
- Dicastery for the Causes of Saints - biography of St Ludovico da Casoria, with both miracles
- Dicastery for the Causes of Saints — promulgated decrees (causesanti.va), summarised in our own words
- Wikidata Q2675665 — dates, feast day and identifiers (CC0)
- English Wikipedia — Ludovico of Casoria (CC BY-SA)
Checked against the sources listed on 21 September 2026. Corrections welcome.