Bonifacia Rodriguez
Castro was born in Salamanca, Spain, in 1837.
She was born to a family
of artisans.
In 1874 she founded the Congregation of the Sisters of St.
Joseph along with her spiritual director, the Jesuit Francisco Javier
Butinyà, in order to help working women.
These “Nazareth Workshops” they created employ impoverished women and fight against prostitution.
Certain priests of Salamanca and superiors of the community sowed doubt
among the sisters which forced Boniface out of the Congregation.
She
then founded another community in the town of Zamora, where she died in
1905.
John Paul II beatified her in November of 2003.
Today the Sisters of St.
Joseph are in 13 countries across Europe, Asia, Africa and Latin
America where they have offices and art schools, youth prevention
workshops, pastoral parishes and houses of spirituality.