Dulce de Souza Lopes Pontes
Dulce de Souza Lopes Pontes, SMIC, widely known as Irmã Dulce and also as Saint Dulce of the Poor (26 May 1914 – 13 March 1992), was a Brazilian Missionary Sister of the Immaculate Conception of the Mother of God. The Missionary Sisters of the Immaculate Conception belong to the Third Order Regular of St. Francis. Dulce de Souza Lopes Pontes was the founder of the Obras Sociais Irmã Dulce ("Charitable Works Foundation of Sister Dulce") and was known worldwide as an advocate for the poor of her country.
In 1949, Pontes started caring for the poorest of the poor in her convent's chicken yard in Salvador, Bahia. Today, more than 3,000 people arrive every day at this same site (where the Santo Antônio Hospital now stands) to receive free medical treatment. She also established CESA, a school for the poor in Simões Filho, one of the most impoverished cities in the state of Bahia.
At the time of her death in 1992, Pontes had been nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize, she had received two personal audiences with Pope John Paul II, and she had played a huge role in creating one of the largest and most respected philanthropic organizations in Brazil. She was named the most admired woman in the history of Brazil by O Estado de S. Paulo newspaper and the most influential religious person in Brazil during the 20th century, by ISTOÉ magazine.
In the Martyrology
- March 13 Saint Dulce dos Pobres (Maria Rita de Sousa Brito Lopes Pontes), religious