An early champion of health care for all
As a young widow, Marguerite d’Youville turned her attention to the suffering of those around her. In 1738, she founded the Congregation of the Sisters of Charity of Montreal (Les Soeurs Grises), a charitable Order which assumed responsibility for the General Hospital of Montreal’s program dedicated to caring for the poor. In the succeeding centuries, generations of Grey Nuns have founded numerous charitable institutions throughout the world. Madame d’Youville was beatified by Pope John XXIII in 1959 and canonized by Pope John Paul II on December 9, 1990.