Adolfo Barberis

Adolfo Barberis (1 June 1884 - 24 September 1967) was an Italian Roman Catholic priest and the founder of the Sisters of Christian Servanthood.^[1][2] Barberis served as the assistant to the Archbishop of Turin from 1906 until the cardinal's death in 1923 at which point he worked for sometime as a professor. He did this while managing the functions of the religious congregation he established which he had dedicated to the education and care of women in domestic service.^[1][2] The consequences of World War I were enough to convince him to found an order to help women though he often faced difficulties in dealing with Cardinal Maurilio Fossati in the beginning of the latter's tenure as Archbishop of Turin. These disagreements came due to Fossati's limited knowledge of Barberis' work and the slander levelled against him sometime before that. This slander came in 1923 after his cardinal benefactor died as some fellow priests suggested he garnered too much power in his position.^[3]

Barberis nonetheless was rehabilitated towards the end of his life when his good friend Cardinal Michele Pellegrino dispelled the allegations leveled against him. Health concerns plagued him towards the rest of his life and he retired to the order's motherhouse where he later died from his ailments.

The beatification process launched in Turin in 1995 and he became titled as a Servant of God. The process culminated in 2014 after Pope Francis confirmed his life of heroic virtue and named him as Venerable.^[1][2]