The discussion emphasizes how sainthood and idealization of Maria Goretti are used to regulate Catholic women's lives and condone violence against them. It notes that Maria Goretti is a modern mythic figure, with many levels of meaning to the myth. She was 12 years old in 1902, when she was stabbed in a sexual assault and died. She reportedly appeared to the perpetrator in a vision during his imprisonment. She forgave him; he repented of his sin. He was present when she was canonized by the Roman Catholic church in 1950. Her legend and other legends and myths of virgin martyrs reinforce passivity and the victimization of Catholic girls and women. Maria Goretti exemplified the glorification of chastity and the duty of women to uphold family purity; her additional use was to forgive men their sins. Thus, the Catholic Church gives the rape victim, the sexually abused girl, and the battered wife a message to take responsibility for their abusers, to forgive them, and, by forgiving them, to redeem them. Christendom and patriarchy therefore turned women into the protectors of chastity and dialectically strengthened and encouraged their sexual suffering. Maria Goretti was made a saint when World War II had been over only 5 years and the rebuilding of Western civilization was still incipient. This virgin martyr became a useful reactionary symbol of patriarchal, religious, and family values. 15 references