Giuseppe Moscati: the doctor who became a saint

Beatified by Pope Paul VI in 1975 and canonised by Pope John Paul II in 1987, Giuseppe Moscati was born on 25 July 1880 in Benevento, the seventh of nine children of the magistrate Francesco Moscati and Rosa De Luca, of the Marquises of Roseto. Having graduated from school at just 17, he began his university studies at the medical faculty of the University of Naples. It was probably the choice to dedicate himself to the medical profession that was shaped by his own personal experiences

Known as the "doctor of the poor", Giuseppe Moscati is a saint held very dear by the people of Naples, so much so that an entire wing of the Church of Gesù Nuovo, in the square of the same name, is dedicated to him. Here, in a small chapel, stands a statue of the sainted doctor, whose bronze hand has, over the years, become polished, almost as if turned to gold, from the touch of the faithful seeking comfort or a grace.

Biography

Beatified by Pope Paul VI in 1975 and canonised by Pope John Paul II in 1987, Giuseppe Moscati was born on 25 July 1880 in Benevento, the seventh of nine children of the magistrate Francesco Moscati and Rosa De Luca, of the Marquises of Roseto. Having graduated from school at just 17, he began his university studies at the medical faculty of the University of Naples. It was probably the choice to dedicate himself to the medical profession that was shaped by his own personal experiences: in 1893, in fact, his brother Alberto, an artillery lieutenant, was brought home after suffering an incurable injury from a fall from a horse. For years, Giuseppe devoted himself to him body and soul, personally seeing to his care. Already during this period, the qualities that would make him such a beloved and admired doctor began to emerge: a profound sensitivity to the suffering of others and an extraordinary empathy.

On 4 August 1903, he graduated in medicine with full marks and the right to publish, and five months later took part in the public competition held for the post of assistant physician at the Ospedali Riuniti di Napoli (United Hospitals of Naples). From 1904, he served at the Ospedale Incurabili (Hospital of the Incurables) in Naples, and it was here that he organised the hospitalisation of rabies patients, saving those admitted to the hospital in Torre del Greco during the 1906 eruption of Vesuvius.

After several years of collaboration in the laboratories of various hospitals, he finally obtained, in 1911, a lectureship in physiological chemistry on the strength of his academic credentials, with the task of leading scientific and experimental research at the Institute of Biological Chemistry. From 1911 he taught, without interruption, "Laboratory Investigations Applied to Clinical Practice" and "Chemistry Applied to Medicine", with practical exercises and demonstrations; he later also became a lecturer in General Clinical Medicine.

From a very young age, thanks to his extraordinary clinical eye and his pioneering and original research, much of which was published in Italian and international scientific journals, he gained remarkable fame both in Naples and abroad.

In truth, what struck people most of all was his astonishing personality and his boundless kindness of heart: he had no attachment to money, dressed modestly, and had no carriages, horses or motor cars. Whatever he received was set aside for the poor, to whom he also provided medicines and other basic necessities.

His surgery, located in Via Cisterna dell'olio, was always full of patients, to whom he offered free care. Having taken note of their financial circumstances, he would urge them to leave whatever they could in the basket by the entrance or, if need be, to take from it instead.

The miracles

Many people claim to have been healed by the saint, but three miracles in particular have been officially recognised by the Catholic Church and helped bring about his canonisation. The most striking of these is undoubtedly that of Giuseppe Montefusco: at the age of twenty, in early 1978, the man began to suffer from fatigue, pallor, dizziness and loss of appetite; he was admitted to the Cardarelli Hospital in Naples, where he was diagnosed with "leucemia acuta mieloblastica" (acute myeloblastic leukaemia), a disease that would have led swiftly to his death. One night, his mother dreamed of a man in a white coat and, after speaking with the parish priest, who told her it was surely Moscati, she went to the Church of Gesù Nuovo to pray. In under a month, her son recovered, to the astonishment of the doctors, who stated that, in their experience, only 12 out of 1,600 patients survived five years after such a diagnosis.

Saint Giuseppe Moscati died young, in his own surgery, at the age of 47, on 12 April 1927, and was buried in the cemetery of Poggioreale, although shortly afterwards his body was moved to the Church of Gesù Nuovo, so that the many faithful could venerate him there.

His feast day falls on 16 November, the date of the transfer of his remains.