Maria Rosa Zorza

In 1966, Maria Rosa Zorza entered the Congregation of the Sisters of the Poor of Bergamo. She began her novitiate on March 14, 1967, and pronounced her temporary vows on March 25, 1969, taking the religious name Sister Vitarosa. She was then sent to Milan to undergo professional nursing training at her congregation's school, a diploma she obtained in 1971. In 1972, she worked in a retirement home in Torre Boldone (Bergamo) while obtaining specializations in nursing management and geriatrics. On September 6, 1975, she pronounced her perpetual vows in Bergamo and was assigned to the provincial psychiatric hospital of Varese. Driven by a deep desire to serve the most destitute in mission lands, she requested several times to leave for Africa. In October 1982, her superiors accepted her request and sent her to Kikwit, in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (then Zaire). In Kikwit, Sister Vitarosa dedicated herself tirelessly to children suffering from malnutrition, the elderly, the mentally ill, and prisoners. In 1991, after suffering an ischemic stroke, she was transferred to the mission of Kingasani, a densely populated peripheral district of Kinshasa, where she performed pastoral service. In April 1995, a terrible epidemic of Ebola virus disease broke out in Kikwit. Several of her sisters in the congregation, who were caring for the sick at the Kikwit civil hospital, contracted the virus and died one after another. As soon as she learned of the gravity of the situation, Sister Vitarosa requested authorization to join Kikwit to lend a hand to her sisters and the provincial superior, Sister Annelvira Ossoli. She arrived in Kikwit on May 2, 1995. Aware of the mortal risks, she declared: "Why should I be afraid? The others are there, at this moment they need me." She contracted the Ebola virus in turn and died on May 28, 1995, in Kikwit, at the age of 51. She was the last of the six Sisters of the Poor to succumb to the epidemic.

The heroic sacrifice of the six Sisters of the Poor (Floralba Rondi, Clarangela Ghilardi, Danielangela Sorti, Dinarosa Belleri, Annelvira Ossoli, and Vitarosa Zorza), described as "martyrs of charity," aroused immense emotion in Italy and the Congo. At the request of the Bishop of Kikwit, Mgr. Edouard Mununu, their remains were buried in front of the Cathedral of Kikwit. In 2013, the Holy See granted the nihil obstat for the opening of the cause for beatification. The diocesan inquiry was officially opened in the Cathedral of Kikwit on April 28, 2013, and closed on February 23, 2014. A supplementary rogatory inquiry was conducted in the Diocese of Bergamo from June 8, 2013, to January 25, 2014. The files were then transmitted to Rome for the Roman phase of the cause.

On June 25, 2020, the theological consultants of the Congregation for the Causes of Saints issued a favorable opinion on the herocity of her virtues. On March 16, 2021, the cardinals and bishops of the congregation confirmed this judgment. On March 17, 2021, Pope Francis received in audience Cardinal Marcello Semeraro, Prefect of the Congregation for the Causes of Saints, and authorized the promulgation of the decree recognizing the heroic virtues of Sister Vitarosa Zorza, thus attributing to her the title of Venerable. Her fellow sisters Sister Annelvira Ossoli and Sister Danielangela Sorti were declared Venerable by the same decree, joining the first three fellow sisters (Floralba Rondi, Clarangela Ghilardi, and Dinarosa Belleri) whose heroic virtues had been recognized on February 20, 2021.

The spirituality of Sister Vitarosa Zorza is deeply rooted in the charism of her founder, Saint Luigi Maria Palazzolo, who exhorted his religious sisters to give themselves entirely to the poorest, including "in times of contagious diseases." Her life bears witness to a heroic hope and a total abandonment to Divine Providence. Her joyful character, constant smile, and availability left a mark on those around her. Her voluntary sacrifice in the face of the Ebola epidemic illustrates evangelical love carried to the point of giving her own life for her sisters and for the Congolese people. In tribute to her dedication, the primary school in her hometown, Palosco, now bears her name ("Scuola Primaria Suor Vitarosa Zorza").