Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada: Saint Gianna Shrine

About Saint Gianna Molla:

Saint Gianna Beretta Molla (1922–1962) was an Italian Catholic pediatrician, wife, and mother who was canonized for her faith-filled life and heroic choice to prioritize her unborn child’s life at the risk of her own.

In 1955 she married engineer Pietro Molla. They had three children—Pierluigi (1956), Mariolina (1957–1964), and Laura (1959)—followed by two miscarriages. In 1961, early in her fourth pregnancy, doctors discovered a fibroma (uterine tumor). The options included terminating the pregnancy, performing a hysterectomy (which would end the pregnancy), or removing only the tumor while continuing the pregnancy (the riskiest for her). As a physician fully aware of the dangers, she chose the third option and insisted that if a choice had to be made between her life and the child’s, the baby must be saved.

On April 21, 1962 (Holy Saturday), her daughter Gianna Emanuela was delivered by Caesarean section. Complications led to septic peritonitis; Gianna died a week later on April 28, 1962, at age 39, after repeatedly saying “Jesus, I love you.” Her daughter survived and later became a physician.

Pope John Paul II beatified her on April 24, 1994, and canonized her on May 16, 2004, in St. Peter’s Square, with her husband and children present (notably the first time a husband attended his wife’s canonization). Her feast day is April 28. She is invoked as a patron of mothers, physicians, unborn children, wives, and families, and is often held up as a model of lay holiness who integrated professional work, marriage, motherhood, and deep faith.

Her life is frequently cited as a witness to the dignity of human life and self-giving love in ordinary circumstances. Miracles attributed to her intercession (including one involving a pregnancy with severe complications) supported her cause for sainthood. She is buried in the cemetery of Mesero, Italy.

About the Shrine of St. Gianna Molla in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada:

Located in Saint Gianna Molla Parish, this is one of Canada’s newest Shrines.

On Sunday, May 10, 2015 at 7:00 p.m., the first Canadian Shrine in honor St. Gianna Beretta Molla was blessed and inaugurated in St. Gianna Beretta Molla Roman Catholic Church, by Archbishop Richard Gagnon, Archbishop of Winnipeg.

The event, celebrated in the context of evening prayer, included the unveiling of a bronze statue of St. Gianna by Catholic artist John Collier, and they were blessed to have Saint Gianna’s daughter, Gianna Emanuela, in attendance.

This shrine of Saint Gianna is a place of prayer and contemplation and a place to reflect on the tangible experience of a wife, mother and young professional who endeavored to faithfully follow God’s will in her life – a place to encounter the enduring and inspiring example of a life deeply rooted in Jesus Christ. Her story, witness and discipleship has shaped their parish community.

Their hope is that all who come to this shrine to seek St. Gianna’s example and intercession, will also come to discover our special communion with her and that of all the saints in heaven.

Shop for Saint Gianna medals & pictures from The Catholic Company.