Alfonso Maria Fusco

The principal work of Alfonso Maria Fusco is the foundation, on September 26, 1878, in Angri, of a female religious congregation initially called the Battistines of the Nazarene (Battistine del Nazareno), and later the Sisters of Saint John the Baptist (Suore di San Giovanni Battista). For this, he relied on Maddalena Caputo, a native of Angri, who became the first superior under the name Sister Crocifissa, and on a few young companions. The modest motherhouse was named "Piccola Casa della Provvidenza" (Little House of Providence), a name that expressed the founder's trust in Divine Providence. The charism of the institute consists of living a nuptial union with Christ in the service of the smallest and the poorest, particularly through the education and instruction of orphaned and indigent girls. In 1889, the founder opened the Opera degli Artigianelli, an orphanage to which he added a school intended to train young people in a trade. The rules of the congregation were approved in 1888. For his educational work among the poor youth of the Mezzogiorno, Alfonso Maria Fusco has sometimes been nicknamed "the Don Bosco of the South."

The spirituality of Alfonso Maria Fusco is rooted in a lively faith and total trust in Divine Providence, to which the "Little House of Providence" bears witness even in its name. Hagiographic sources highlight his deep devotion to the Eucharist and the Passion of Christ, as well as a filial piety toward the Virgin of Sorrows. He lived and taught poverty, purity, and obedience, and showed a truly maternal tenderness toward the orphans and the poor whom he welcomed. Placing holiness at the heart of his project, he invited his spiritual daughters to seek evangelical perfection; he is credited with the exhortation "Let us become saints by following Jesus closely." In accordance with the figure of Saint John the Baptist, patron of his congregation, he proposed as a motto the words of the precursor: "Prepare the way of the Lord" (Luke 3:4). His reputation for holiness, already perceptible during his lifetime, was confirmed after his death, which occurred in Angri on February 6, 1910, and led to the opening of his cause for beatification.

Following the examination of his cause, Alfonso Maria Fusco was beatified on October 7, 2001, by Pope John Paul II in St. Peter's Square in Rome. The miracle accepted for his beatification was the healing, in February 1998, of a child suffering from cerebral malaria accompanied by a prolonged coma. Following the recognition of a second miracle—the healing of a subarachnoid hemorrhage that occurred in 2009 in a Battistine nun—the decree for which was approved in 2016, he was proclaimed a saint on October 16, 2016, by Pope Francis in St. Peter's Square in Rome. During this celebration, he was canonized alongside six other blesseds, including José Gabriel del Rosario Brochero, José Sánchez del Río, Manuel González García, Lodovico Pavoni, Salomon Leclercq, and Elizabeth of the Trinity. His liturgical memorial is set for February 6, the day of his death, according to the Roman Martyrology; his congregation celebrates him on February 7.

The legacy of Alfonso Maria Fusco is perpetuated through the congregation of the Sisters of Saint John the Baptist, known as the Battistines, which he founded in Angri. Faithful to his charism of education and service to poor and orphaned children, the institute gradually expanded beyond Italy: it is now present in about fifteen countries spread across four continents, where the religious sisters work in schools, orphanages, and social works. Angri, his hometown, remains the heart of this memory: the motherhouse and educational institutions there bear his name. A figure of educational charity in the Italian Mezzogiorno, sometimes compared to Saint John Bosco for his dedication to disadvantaged youth, he is honored as a model of trust in Providence and attention to the little ones. His feast day is celebrated on February 6.