Italian Roman Catholic nun (1937–2023)
Elvira Petrozzi |
---|
Born | Rita Agnese Petrozzi (1937-01-21)21 January 1937
|
---|
Died | 3 August 2023(2023-08-03) (aged 86)
|
---|
Nationality | Italian |
---|
Occupation | Nun |
---|
Elvira Petrozzi (born Rita Agnese Petrozzi; 21 January 1937 – 3 August 2023) was an Italian Roman Catholic nun.[1] A member of the Sisters of Divine Charity, she was known as "the sister of drug addicts" and the founder of the Communità Cenacolo [ca], which specialised in helping drug addicts.
Biography
Born in Sora on 21 January 1937 to an alcoholic father, Petrozzi and her family fled to Alessandria during World War II.[2] She claimed to have "never thought of learning to read or study".[3] In 1956, at the age of 19, she joined the Sisters of Divine Charity in addition to working as a caregiver at a nursery.[2]
On 16 July 1983, Petrozzi founded the Communità Cenacolo in an 18th-century house in Saluzzo.[4] She first intended to create a community for marginalized young people, but turned to helping young drug addicts, eventually devoting herself to the latter.[2] On 16 July 2009, the community was recognized by the Pontifical Council for the Laity as a private international association of the faithful.[3]
By 2013, there were sixty Cenacolo communities, with a presence in Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Slovenia, Austria, Poland, Russia, Ireland, France, the United States, Mexico, the Dominican Republic, and Brazil.[2]
Elvira Petrozzi died in Saluzzo on 3 August 2023, at the age of 86.[5]
References
|
---|
International | |
---|
National | |
---|
People | |
---|