Anna Sorti

Desirous of dedicating herself to the missions, Sister Danielangela was sent in 1978 to the Democratic Republic of the Congo (then called Zaire). She spent her first years of mission at the Mosango hospital center (1978-1983). From 1983 to 1991, she worked as a nurse in Kikimi, a poor neighborhood on the outskirts of Kinshasa, before being assigned to the Tumikia mission from 1991 to 1995. In April 1995, a severe Ebola virus epidemic broke out in Kikwit. Faced with the emergency and the exhaustion of her fellow sisters, Sister Danielangela volunteered to assist Sister Floralba Rondi, who was already seriously ill with the disease. It was during this service to her fellow sister that she in turn contracted the deadly virus. After a few days of suffering, Sister Danielangela Sorti died on May 11, 1995, in Kikwit, at the age of 47. She is one of the six Sisters of the Poor who offered their lives during this epidemic. At the request of the Bishop of Kikwit, Msgr. Edouard Mununu, her remains rest alongside those of her fellow sisters in front of the Kikwit Cathedral.

The reputation for holiness of Sister Danielangela Sorti and her five fellow sisters, described as 'martyrs of charity', spread rapidly after their death. The cause for beatification for all six religious sisters was officially opened on April 28, 2013, at the Cathedral of Kikwit. On June 8, 2013, rogatory inquiries were opened in the Diocese of Bergamo, where the sisters had lived part of their lives. These inquiries concluded on January 25, 2014. The official closing of the diocesan phase of the inquiry took place in Kikwit on February 23, 2014. The documents were then transmitted to Rome, to the Congregation for the Causes of Saints, for the examination of the heroicity of their virtues.

On March 17, 2021, Pope Francis received in audience Cardinal Marcello Semeraro, Prefect of the Congregation for the Causes of Saints. During this audience, the Sovereign Pontiff authorized the promulgation of the decree recognizing the heroic virtues of the Servant of God Danielangela Sorti (born Anna Maria Sorti), thereby conferring upon her the title of Venerable. Her fellow sisters, Sister Annelvira Ossoli and Sister Vitarosa Zorza, were also declared venerable by the same decree of March 17, 2021. The other three religious of the group (Sisters Floralba Rondi, Clarangela Ghilardi, and Dinarosa Belleri) had been recognized as venerable on February 20, 2021. For Sister Danielangela to be beatified, the official recognition of a miracle attributed to her intercession is now required.

The spirituality of Sister Danielangela Sorti is fully inscribed within the charism of Saint Luigi Maria Palazzolo, founder of the Sisters of the Poor, who asked his religious to devote themselves to the service of the poorest sick, including during times of contagious diseases. Sister Danielangela drew her strength from a life of intense prayer, marked by long hours of Eucharistic adoration. Her personal motto was the phrase "Amore chiede amore" (Love asks for love), which she had written on the back of a photograph to express her total abandonment to God. Her conscious sacrifice in the face of the Ebola epidemic remains a heroic testimony of Christian charity and fidelity to her vocation as a caregiver.