It's near-impossible to walk the streets of Manhattan -- or any other major American city -- without running into a woman on the sidewalk begging for money. She may have a sign that she is a mother, explaining how many children she has. She may have a child or two right there with her.

With every such encounter, I think of a woman who is about to be seen on theater screens: Francesca Saverio Cabrini. She's a canonized saint. An upcoming movie about her, "Cabrini," tells some of her story, presenting it as a feminist success -- and it is, in the truest sense.

She faces obstacles, including the skepticism and unhelpfulness of men. A missionary from Italy, she came to the United States to help immigrants who were languishing here in the pursuit of a better life. A Catholic religious sister, she cared for the orphan and the widow, as the Bible instructs us to. She helped build some of the institutions that would........

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