Diocese of Buffalo welcomes Gianna Emanuela Molla for events honoring her mother

CNA Staff, Jul 19, 2024 / 06:00 am

For the past 15 years, Cheryl Calire, the director of life ministries at the Diocese of Buffalo, has worked to open eight St. Gianna Molla Pregnancy Outreach Centers. On July 11, when the eighth center was opened in Holley, New York, a very special guest was in attendance: Gianna Emanuela Molla, the daughter of the center’s namesake.

After meeting for the first time in 2011, Calire formed a friendship with Molla and has been trying to have her visit the diocese ever since. Finally, during the same year that Calire will be retiring, she was able to host Molla for a weekend of events honoring Molla’s mother.

“It took many, many years cultivating a friendship and a relationship,” Calire told CNA in an interview. “She knew I was going to be retiring at the end of the year, so it worked out and as she would say, ‘In God’s time.’”

The weekend of events kicked off with a dedication ceremony for the St. Gianna and Pietro Molla Family Garden at the Mount Olivet Cemetery in Kenmore, New York. The garden serves as a space for reflection and comfort for parents grieving the loss of a child. There is also a place for family members to be buried if, down the road, they decide that they would like to be buried with their children. The Diocese of Buffalo and Buffalo Catholic Cemeteries, which own and operate the cemetery, are also creating a special fund to cover burial costs for parents who have lost children.

From there, Molla was taken to the newest St. Gianna Molla Pregnancy Outreach Center for a Mass and benediction at the new location. These centers serve families by providing material, emotional, and spiritual support to mothers, fathers, and young families in need during and after pregnancy. 

“The first year, in 2010, we helped 200 families and I thought that was something,” Calire said. “We are on track this year to help over 2,000 families in the western New York area.”

Molla travels around the world not only speaking about her mother but is also working to promote the cause of her father, Pietro.

“She’s kind of made it her life mission to not only spread the word about her mom and her sainthood, but as she said her mom’s already a saint — many people know all about her — she’s trying to increase the awareness about her dad,” Calire explained. “He was a single dad, raised all those kids that were left behind, and she feels in a heroic way about him as well.”

She shared that Molla was thrilled to learn about the diocese’s mobile outreach program geared toward fathers called the Buffalo Peacemakers and Buffalo Fathers Pietro Molla Outreach.

Calire explained that many of their referrals come from local Catholic hospitals, the children’s hospital, family court, and domestic violence center as well as immigrants and refugees who cross the border from Canada.

During her time working with the pregnancy centers, Calire realized there was a need for more resources in order to help mothers in need to choose life. This inspired her and her husband to convert an old rectory into a hospitality home for expectant mothers who don’t have support or don’t have anywhere to live. They provide housing, connect them to resources, help mothers finish their education, and more.

The Mother Teresa Home opened in 2016 and since then has served more than 100 mothers and 104 babies. Calire and her husband live and serve there. 

On Friday, July 12, Molla took part in a day full of activities for the whole family at the Our Lady of Victory National Shrine and Basilica, which included a respect life art contest, Mass, card-making for the elderly and infirm, and the president of the Society of St. Gianna Molla, Robert White, brought first-class relics and spoke about the beloved saint.

Finally, on Sunday, July 14, a special Mass was celebrated at the St. Joseph Cathedral in honor of Molla’s visit to the diocese.

When asked what it’s like to be in the presence of a daughter of a saint, Calire said it’s “overwhelming.”

“One of the reasons I wanted to bring her to Buffalo — it’s no secret, there’s a lot of challenges going on right now in our diocese … I’m aware of them, but I try not to focus on them. I try to focus on the ministry and Christ,” she shared. “So with that in mind, I just kept on saying if I can bring her here this could be an opportunity for others to feel the way I did in 2011. When I first met her, it was life-changing for me.”

“When you hear her speak about her parents and refer to them as ‘my mother’ and ‘my father’ when she speaks of them, as you know, the things that her dad shared with her about her mom, it makes it like you’re sitting at somebody’s dining room table and you’re talking about family.” 

One moment that particularly stood out to Calire was at the dedication of the family garden when a Knight of Columbus fainted due to the heat. 

“What does Dr. Gianna Emanuela do? She runs right over, kneels by his side until the paramedics get there in the mud,” she recalled. “Her loving, caring nature and her being a geriatric doctor it just kicked in like, ‘I’m just a regular person in the crowd here who’s a doctor and I’m taking over. Move out of the way until the paramedics get here.’ It was really something to witness that.” 

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Calire called Molla’s time in Buffalo “very, very, very moving.”