Carlo Tancredi Falletti di Barolo | |
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| Born | (1782-10-26)26 October 1782 Turin,Kingdom of Sardinia |
| Died | 4 September 1838(1838-09-04) (aged 55) Chiari,Brescia,Kingdom of Lombardy–Venetia |
Carlo Tancredi Falletti di Barolo (26 October 1782 – 4 September 1838) was anItalianRoman Catholicnoble who, with his wifeJuliette Colbert, co-founded theSisters of Saint Anne.[1] Born and raised inTurin, Falletti came from a long line of nobles originally fromFrance. He was admitted into the court ofNapoleon Bonaparte where he would meet his future wife whom he married in 1806; he became acount in 1810 and relocated in 1814 to Turin with his wife where he became part of the local council and helped in infrastructure and educational developments.[2][3]
Falletti's work extended to establishing abank and a shelter for the children of poor workers while in 1835 he tended to victims of acholera outbreak. His efforts in Turin during the epidemic as well as his other works saw him made aCommander of the Order of Saints Maurice and Lazarus.[2][1]
His beatification process launched in Turin in 1995 and he became titled as aServant of God.[1][4] He was titled asVenerable on 21 December 2018 afterPope Francis acknowledged that Falletti had lived a life ofheroic virtue; his wife had been named as such back in mid-2015.
Carlo Ippolito Ernesto Tancredi Maria Falletti was born in his parents' estate inTurin to the BaroloMarquess Ottavio Alessandro Falletti (27.7.1753-30.1.1828) and Paolina d'Oncieu (1760-1838) on 26 October 1782. He was the last descendant of the noble Falletti line.
In his childhood he was known for his intelligence as well as his sense of justice coupled with piousness. He was concerned with matters relating tosocial justice and these traits grew as he aged. But Falletti also possessed a strong will to promote and operate for the good of all.[2][1] In his childhood he would often travel with his father toFrance as well as to other places such as theNetherlands andSwitzerland.
He servedNapoleon Bonaparte in his court and it was there inParis that he met his future spouseJuliette Colbert who hailed from France; he was forced to move to Paris once Napoleon called back the emigrated French aristocrats to his side in order to better support his court. It was soon after his move to Paris that he entered thepage corps before becoming a chamberlain in the Emperor's household. Falletti and Juliette became close over time and discovered both shared a deep faith and a desire to improve the lives of others and it was Prince Camillo Borghese who helped to mediate their union and engagement. The two soon married in Paris on 18 August 1806 and lived in Paris (he was named as acount in 1810) until Napoleon'sfall in 1814 which forced their relocation to Turin. The couple lived there but would return to Paris from time to time since Juliette's relatives lived in France.[1] The couple remained childless and so decided to adopt the Turin poor as their own seeing that their childlessness was a sign of providence. The pair decided to remain a chaste couple and realized through this came the desire to act as parents to the poor of Turin. In 1816 he was elected to the council of Turin and soon became a noted municipal official. In 1823 the couple received permission from theKingdom of Piedmont-Sardinia to found a home for former female prisoners and reformedprostitutes. His wife would oversee management for that home while Falletti dedicated himself to his civic duties.[1]
During the 1825-26 frigid winter season he distributedbread andfirewood to the poor and established both a free school for artisanal crafts and a bank for small savings in 1827.[3] Falletti served as the mayor of Turin at the request ofKingCarlo Felice during which time he dedicated himself to secular and religious educational needs of the citizens while taking on projects for the integral development of his people.[5] It was during that timeframe that he founded homes for the children of poor workers and helped to pave new roads and establish new gardens and fountains for Turin's beautification.[2] Falletti also set aside land that became the Cimitero Monumentale in 1828 and set aside a personal plot for himself and his wife. In 1834 he and Juliette co-founded theSisters of Saint Anne which would be dedicated to education and tending to the poor and those in prisons.[2]
In 1835 acholera epidemic struck thePiedmont area and soon spread to Turin. Falletti organized help for the ill and set about establishing aid centers and infirmaries open to all people who required medical assistance. But he was overcome with fear that Juliette could be infected so allowed her to render aid to widows and children while forbidding her from going near contagious patients. But this fear soon decreased and he allowed her to tend to whomever she wished.[1][3] Falletti's efforts - civic and during the epidemic - saw him made a commander in theOrder of Saints Maurice and Lazarus; but his efforts during the epidemic saw him exhausted and he once confided to Juliette: "I have confidence that Providence will arrange for me to leave first".
His health started to decline due to exhaustion and his doctors recommended that he travel toAustria in order to recuperate. But the couple stopped first inVerona hoping the alpine air would aid his recuperation when his condition deteriorated (struck with a violentfever) to the point that Juliette believed it would be best to return to Turin. But his condition had declined to the point that the couple had to stop inChiari inBrescia where he received theextreme unction before he died during the night on 4 September 1838 in his wife's arms.[1] His funeral was celebrated in the church of San Dalmazio in Turin, with a large crowd of poor people in attendance. Falletti's remains were interred in the plot he had set for himself but were later relocated in 2013 to rest besides the remains of his wife (which had been moved back in 1899) in the Santa Giulia church in Vanchiglia in metropolitan Turin. In 2008 his congregation of Sisters of Sainte Anne counted 1262 religious in 174 houses in places such asCameroon and thePhilippines; the general headquarters of the congregation is located in Rome.
The Sisters of Saint Anne held their 29thGeneral Chapter in Rome in 1990 and it led to an explicit mention of launching a possible beatification process for the Falletti couple. The current postulator for this cause since 22 February 1992 is theCapuchinfriar Paolino Rossi.[4] In March 1993 thepostulator approached the CardinalArchbishop of TurinGiovanni Saldarini asking to introduce the cause; the postulator soon after appointed Sisters Renza Peira and Nelly Grasso as joint vice-postulators and later Sister Felicia Frascogna after Peira died in 1999.[4] The diocesan process was launched in Turin on 8 February 1995 and concluded its business on 21 December 2002; Falletti became titled as aServant of God on 7 March 1995 when theCongregation for the Causes of Saints issued the official "nihil obstat" (no objections) decree which acted as a green-light for the cause.
Falletti became titled asVenerable on 21 December 2018 afterPope Francis confirmed that the late nobleman had lived a life ofheroic virtue.[6] Falletti's wife Juliette was titled as Venerable on 5 May 2015.
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