Camila Rolón

On January 28, 1880, with the approval of Archbishop León Federico Aneiros, Camila Rolón founded the Congregation of the Poor Sisters of Saint Joseph (Hermanas Pobres Bonaerenses de San José) in Mercedes to care for orphans and the sick. She took the habit under the name Sister Camila of Saint Joseph on March 19, 1881. Thanks to the benefactor León Gallardo, a motherhouse was built in Muñiz in 1889. The institute developed rapidly in Argentina and Uruguay. In 1891, she traveled to Rome and obtained a decree of praise from Pope Leo XIII, followed by the formal approval of the institute in 1898. She established a foundation in Rome in 1905, and Pope Saint Pius X definitively approved the Constitutions in 1908. She transferred the generalate there in 1909 and died there on February 16, 1913.

The reputation of holiness of Mother Camila Rolón spread rapidly after her death. In 1950, the informative process for her beatification opened in Rome and La Plata, concluding in 1952. The decree on her writings was published on January 28, 1959. Her cause was officially introduced on March 13, 1975, under the pontificate of Paul VI. On April 2, 1993, Pope John Paul II promulgated the decree recognizing the heroic nature of her virtues, conferring upon her the title of Venerable.

Mother Camila Rolón is currently recognized as Venerable by the Catholic Church. Her cause for beatification is actively ongoing. A diocesan inquiry into an unexplained healing that occurred in Argentina in 2011 was conducted in the Archdiocese of Tucumán and concluded in August 2016. The documents were forwarded to Rome. In November 2024, the Superior General of the congregation submitted additional documents to the Dicastery for the Causes of Saints in order to advance the examination of this medical file with a view to a future beatification.

The spirituality of Mother Camila Rolón is based on evangelical poverty, trusting abandonment to Divine Providence, and a filial devotion to Saint Joseph, the Virgin of Carmel, and Saint Teresa of Avila. She invited her sisters to imitate the hidden life of the Holy Family in Nazareth through simplicity, humble work, and charity. Today, the Poor Sisters of Saint Joseph perpetuate her legacy in Argentina, Uruguay, Italy, the United States, Madagascar, Romania, and the Dominican Republic, serving destitute children, the sick, and the elderly.