Pope Leo XIV has declared American religious sister Mary Teresa Tallon “Venerable.”

The Pontiff signed a decree on Thursday recognizing the heroic virtue of the foundress of the Parish Visitors of Mary Immaculate in New York. He also recognized the heroic virtue of several others, bringing them closer to sainthood.

Just before signing the decree, he met with Cardinal Marcello Semeraro, prefect of the Dicastery for the Causes of Saints.

Mary Teresa Tallon: Making Every Soul Count

Mary Teresa Tallon was born on May 6, 1867, in Hanover, New York, as the daughter of Irish immigrants.

In 1887, at the age of 19, she joined the Sisters of the Holy Cross, despite her family’s disapproval. She remained part of the congregation for the next 33 years, teaching in Catholic schools in South Bend, Indiana,

During this time, Sister Mary Teresa was inspired to establish a new congregation dedicated to contemplation and to preaching the Gospel to the neglected. In 1920, she left the Sisters of the Holy Cross and, on Aug. 15, established the Parish Visitors of Mary Immaculate (PVMI). She gave it the motto “Make every soul count.”

Considered a gifted scholar, Mother Mary Teresa authored a report documenting the first decade of the Confraternity of Christian Doctrine in New York for the National Catechetical Congress in 1936.

She died on Feb. 10, 1954, after a prolonged illness.

In 2013, she was declared a “Servant of God” in recognition of her holiness.

Others Declared ‘Venerable’

Pope Leo XIV on June 18 also moved several other servants of God along the path to sainthood.

Two Italians were declared “Venerable”: Maria Agnese Tribbioli, a religious sister who founded the Pie Operaie di San Giuseppe congregation, and Maria Petra Giordano, a Dominican nun.

Others included Spanish nun Clara Andreu y Malferit and Belgian missionary Júlio Maria de Lombaerde.

Leo also recognized the martyrdom of Juan Torres Torres and 19 companions, all Catholic priests, for having been killed in odium fidei (in hatred of the faith) in Spain during the Spanish Civil War.