Catholic Adoption Resources

This is a list of saints and blesseds who adopted children, fostered children, or were adopted as children themselves.

Catholic Saints and Blesseds who Adopted Children

• Saint Joseph: Saint Joseph is the adoptive father of Jesus Christ.

• Blessed Ceferino Jimenez Malla (1861-1936): Bl. Ceferino and his wife adopted his wife’s niece, Pepita, when he was fifty years old.

• Blessed John and Magdalena Minami (1568-1603, 1560-1603): Blessed John and Magdalena Minami adopted Blessed John Minami’s nephew (St. Louis Minami).

• Saint Mark Chong Ui-Bae (1794-1866): St. Mark Chong Ui-Bae adopted his wife’s nephew.

• Saint Thomas More (1478-1535): St. Thomas More was the adoptive Father to Margaret Giggs, the daughter of a wet nurse (Olive Giggs) who tended to his biological daughter, Margaret More.

• Saint William of Perth (d. 1201): Saint William of Perth adopted an abandoned infant found on a church threshold. He named him David and raised him as his own son.

Saints and Blesseds Who Adopted and Fostered Children

• Blessed Eurosia Fabris (1866-1932): When her neighbor died and left behind two daughters, Blessed Eurosia cared for the children for six months before adopting them. She then gave birth to six children with her husband and adopted three more.

• Venerable Pierre Toussaint (1766-1853): Ven. Pierre Toussaint and his wife adopted Ven. Pierre’s niece after her mother’s death, had many foster children, and purchased the freedom of dozens of slaves.

Saints and Blesseds Who Were Orphaned as Children

• Blessed Luigi Beltrame Quattrocchi (1880-1951): Blessed Luigi Beltrame Quattrocchi was adopted at age eleven by a childless aunt and uncle.

• Saint André Bessette: Saint André Bessette was orphaned at the age of twelve, following the death of his father in a lumber accident and the death of his mother from Tuberculosis. His maternal aunt and her husband took him in.

• Saint Gemma Galgani (1878-1903): Saint Gemma Galgani lost her mother to Tuberculosis as a young child and lost her father to throat cancer as a teenager. The Giannini family informally adopted Saint Gemma Galgani into their household as a daughter.

• St. Jerome Emiliani (1486-1537): Saint Jerome Emiliani was orphaned around the ages of ten to fifteen after his father died. He joined the military shortly after his father’s death.

• Saint John Yi Mun-u (1810-1840): St. John Yi Mun-u was orphaned when he was just five years old. A Catholic woman adopted him.

• Saint Kateri Tekakwitha (1656-1937): Saint Kateri Tekakwitha was orphaned around the age of four via a smallpox epidemic that claimed the lives of her parents and her brother. She was raised by her uncle.

• Saint Mary of Edessa (d. 371): St. Mary of Edessa was orphaned at the age of 7. She was adopted by her uncle, the hermit, St. Abraham Kidunaia. When she fell into sin, St. Abraham left his hermitage for the first time in 20 years to find her. Her father’s love showed Mary her Father’s love, and she agreed to come home. She soon became a miracle worker.

To Read More about Saints of Adoption and Fostering, read: 15 Saints for adoption