Bl. Teresa Bracco

Teresa Bracco was born in 1924 at Santa Giulia, near Dego in the province of Savona, Italy, into a farming family, and she worked in the fields. She was known for her piety and modesty, under the guidance of her parish priest.

Hearing what had happened to other young women in the violence of the war, she said: "Rather than be violated, I would rather die."

During a German round-up on August 28, 1944, a soldier seized her. She resisted his sexual assault, and he killed her; her body was found two days later. John Paul II beatified her in Turin in 1998.

Teresa Bracco was beatified in 1998 by John Paul II.

Beatification allows public veneration, usually in a particular region or religious family. Canonization extends it to the whole Church.