Caroline Baron

After a period of transition and discernment, Caroline Baron turned definitively toward the spirituality of Saint Francis of Assisi. On December 16, 1860, the Bishop of Montpellier, Mgr Charles-Thomas Thibault, invested her with the penitential habit of the Third Order of Saint Francis and gave her the name Mother Françoise of the Holy Spirit. On March 19, 1861, she officially founded the congregation of the Franciscan Sisters of the Holy Spirit (also called the Franciscan Sisters of the Holy Spirit of Montpellier). On April 3, 1861, Mother Françoise and three companions settled in Saint-Chinian to open a school and an orphanage there, intended for the reception and education of poor and abandoned children. The very next day, April 4, 1861, the cross was solemnly enthroned in the garden of their modest home. The institute received diocesan approval on January 20, 1862, from the new Bishop of Montpellier, Mgr François-Marie-Joseph Lecourtier. Under the leadership of the foundress, the congregation developed rapidly in the south of France, dedicating itself primarily to the teaching of young girls, the education of orphans, and the care of the sick at home. At the death of the foundress in 1882, the institute already counted twelve houses, including ten educational establishments spread across the Hérault, Aude, Haute-Garonne, and Hautes-Pyrénées departments.

Mother Françoise du Saint-Esprit passed away on December 28, 1882, in Saint-Chinian, exhausted by a life of prayer and tireless devotion to the most destitute. She was initially buried in Saint-Chinian, then her remains were exhumed on October 24, 1951, to be transferred to the chapel of the congregation's motherhouse in Montpellier (located at 31 Avenue Saint-Lazare), where she now rests. The reputation of holiness of Caroline Baron led to the opening of her cause for beatification. The diocesan informative inquiry into her life, virtues, and reputation for holiness was officially opened in the Diocese of Montpellier on April 3, 1959, and closed on November 29, 1966. The decree on her writings was published on February 4, 1972, and the validity of the informative process was recognized by the Congregation for the Causes of Saints on February 3, 1995. The Positio retracing her heroic virtues was published in 1997.

Following the examination of the cause by the theological consultants (on April 5, 2016) and then by the cardinals and bishops who are members of the Congregation (on October 7, 2017), Pope Francis authorized the promulgation of the decree recognizing the heroic virtues of the Servant of God on October 9, 2017. Caroline Baron then officially received the title of Venerable. To this day, no miracle has yet been officially recognized to pave the way for her beatification, and she does not hold the status of Blessed or Saint.

Caroline Baron's spirituality is deeply rooted in the Franciscan charism, characterized by simplicity, evangelical joy, poverty, and a preferential love for the least among us. She conceived of education as a means to lead young people to integral fulfillment under the gaze of God, in a climate of mutual respect and fraternity. Although the motherhouse was transferred from Saint-Chinian to Montpellier on September 6, 1894, the founder's work continued to grow well beyond French borders. Aggregated to the Order of Friars Minor Capuchin on September 10, 1920, the congregation received the decree of praise from the Holy See in 1930 under the pontificate of Pius XI, before obtaining its definitive approval on July 19, 1939. Today, the Franciscan Sisters of the Holy Spirit continue their mission of teaching, assisting the sick, and helping the poor in Europe (France, Italy, Spain), Latin America (Colombia, Peru), and Africa (Central African Republic, Democratic Republic of the Congo). The congregation's generalate is currently located in Miranda de Ebro, Spain.