Venerable Benedetta Bianchi Porro

Benedetta Bianchi Porro (8 August 1936 – 23 January 1964) was an Italian Roman Catholic from Romagna. In her teenage years, she contracted polio, which greatly impacted her health. Nevertheless, Porro endeavored to pursue a career in medicine, distinguishing herself as an exceptional student. However, the aggressive progression of her illness ultimately forced her to relinquish her medical ambitions. In a bid to improve her health, she underwent multiple surgeries, but these interventions failed to alleviate her health problems, leading to a rapid deterioration of her health. She was proclaimed Venerable on 23 December 1993 on the account of her good deeds and model life. Pope Francis confirmed a miracle attributed to her intercession in a decree on 7 November 2018; she was beatified on 14 September 2019. Benedetta Bianchi Porro was born at Dovadola as the second of six children to Guido Bianchi Porro and Elsa Giammarchi. Her siblings were Gabriele (b. 1938), Manuela (b. 1941), Corrado (b. 1946) and Carmen (b. 1953); her half-sister was Leonida (b. 1930). She was baptized "in necessity" at the request of her mother with water from Lourdes; she received formal baptism on the following 13 August in the name of "Benedetta Bianca Maria". Three months after her birth she fell ill with polio and required a brace on her left leg and an orthopedic shoe in order to prevent her spine from deforming; Doctor Vittorio Putti from Bologna diagnosed her illness. From March to May 1937 she was hit with repeated bronchitis. From the age of five she began to keep a journal in which to record experiences; one such entry was at the age of seven: "The universe is enchanting! It is great to be alive!" Porro attended grammar school in Desenzano that the Ursulines managed. Her secondary schooling was also overseen by the Ursulines in Brescia in the Istituto Santa Maria degli Angeli. Porro always was homesick while away at school. In 1942, the family moved to Sirmione.