Editing Stigmata (section)

== Stigmata and gender ==
[[File:Rumoldasterfbed.tif|thumb|[[Belgium|Belgian]] {{ill|Sister Rumolda|nl|Zuster Rumolda}} on her deathbed with stigmata (1948)]]
In the late nineteenth century, a French physician named Dr. An Imbert-Goubeyre began compiling a census of known stigmatics from the thirteenth century to his own time. This census includes 280 female and 41 male stigmatics, meaning women comprise a little over 87% of the list.<ref name=":0">{{Cite book |last=Wilson |first=Ian |title=Stigmata: an investigation into the mysterious appearance of Christ's wounds in hundreds of people from medieval Italy to modern America |publisher=Harper & Row |year=1989 |isbn=0-06-250974-8 |location=New York |pages=10, 62 |language=en}}</ref> Additionally, the [[University of Antwerp]] released a database of information on 244 stigmatics in April 2019. 92% of the stigmatics in the database are female.<ref name=":1">{{Cite journal |last=Smeyers |first=Kristof |date=Autumn 2018 |title=Building the Archive of Stigmatic Women Religious |journal=An Irish Quarterly Review |volume=107 |pages=337–339}}</ref> In some cases, convent sisters have attempted to shield stigmatic women from public scrutiny, often out of fear of how their condition would affect the convent's reputation.<ref name=":1" /> So, the number of women stigmatics may be even higher than historical record shows.

Despite the high number of women stigmatics throughout history, the best-known and least contested stigmatics, such as Francis of Assisi and Padre Pio, have been men.<ref name=":0" />