Blessed Ludovico of Casoria, O.F.M., (b. at Casoria, near Naples, 11 March 1814; d. at Pausilippo, 30 March 1885) was an Italian Franciscan friar, renowned social reformer and founder of the "Gray Friars of Charity" and the "Gray (or Franciscan) Sisters of St. Elizabeth".
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Born Archangelo Palmentieri, he apprenticed as a cabinet maker in his youth. On 1 July 1832, he entered the novitiate of the Order of Friars Minor at which time he took the name Ludovico. Shortly after his ordination, he was appointed to teach philosophy and mathematics to the young members of the Order at the Franciscan friary of St. Peter (San Pietro) in Naples.
He soon embarked on a lifetime of establishing works to care for the poor and needy of the time, founding dispensaries and orphanages. About the year 1852 he opened a school for the education of African boys and girls redeemed from slavery. In addition to his other institutions, he went on to found institutions for the deaf and the mute. He also worked to provide care for the elderly members of his own Order.
Following the advice of his superiors to find others to whom he could entrust this work, in 1859 he instituted a community of men as a religious congregation of the Franciscan Third Order Regular at San Pietro. They became known as the Gray Friars of Charity (Frati Bigi della Carità in Italian) on account of the grayish or ashen color of their habits. Three years later, he instituted likewise a congregation of religious women, known as the Franciscan Sisters of St. Elizabeth (Suore Elisabettiane Bigie), whom he placed under the protection of St. Elizabeth of Hungary. These friars received formal approval by the Vatican in 1877. (They were disbanded, however, in 1971, also by the Vatican, due to the few members of the congregation.)
Nine years before his death, he was attacked with a serious and painful illness, from which he never completely recovered.
The cause for his canonization was introduced in Rome within months of his death. He was beatified in 1993 by Pope John Paul II [1].
This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Herbermann, Charles, ed (1913). "Ludovico of Casoria". Catholic Encyclopedia. Robert Appleton Company.