Biography
Francisco Coll Guitart
About Francisco Coll Guitart
Francisco Coll Guitart was born at Gombrèn in Catalonia on 18 May 1812. He studied at the seminary in Vic and entered the Dominicans at Girona in 1830. He made his profession in 1831. When Spanish laws closed his convent in 1835, he had to live outside a Dominican community but continued to identify as a friar. He was ordained a priest at Solsona in 1836.
Coll served parishes in the Diocese of Vic, then became known for itinerant preaching across Catalonia. His missions included catechesis, confession, prayer and teaching. He worked alongside other clergy during a period of civil conflict. The Dominican account emphasizes that he remained part of the Order of Preachers even while its houses could not reopen in his province.
In 1856 he founded the Dominican Sisters of the Anunciata. The congregation focused on the Christian and human education of children, especially girls whose schooling was neglected. His preaching also encouraged the rosary and included retreats for priests and religious communities. Late illness damaged his sight; the sisters he had founded cared for him. He died in Vic on 2 April 1875.
John Paul II beatified Coll in 1979, and Benedict XVI canonized him in 2009. The Holy See lists his liturgical memorial on 2 April, the day of his death; the Spanish Dominican site presents him on 19 May within its calendar. Sources disagree about the number of children in his family, so the draft does not assign an exact sibling count. His life joins sustained preaching to an institution that continued his work in education.
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