Founder of the Sisters of St. John the Baptist, he was born on March 23, 1839 in Angri (SA), in the Diocese of Nocera Inferiore, Sarno. Ordained a priest in 1863, he dedicated himself to the education and care of the children who crowded the streets, to confessions, to preaching, to the catechetical animation of youth and to parish missions. He did his utmost with heroism to assist those affected by the cholera of 1866, in Campania. He had particularly at heart, the education and evangelization especially for the poor and abandoned youth. In 1878, with the collaboration of Maddalena Caputo and three other young women, he founded the Congregation of the Sisters of St. John the Baptist. In Angri, on February 6, 1910, Fr. Alfonso ended his earthly existence by repeating: “Nothing is due to me, everything is due to God, I am a simple, poor instrument in His hands”.

Saint Alfonso lived and worked tirelessly for the poor and orphans. He had become the father of poor children. He welcomed them into his own home to instruct them, started them off at work, accompanied them on long walks, and took them to church on holidays for Holy Mass and catechism. People wondered, "Why spend so much time with no pay?"
St. Alfonso had at heart the good of every person and the promotion of one’s dignity. He often repeated: "I wish that even my shadow could do good". He had only one purpose: "The glory of God and the good of souls", for a better society.

St. Alfonso Maria Fusco gave everything: his goodwill, his comfort, money when he had it and even his clothes. Once, the cold having set in, the Sister in charge of his modest wardrobe searched in vain for some woolen sweaters. When asked about it, he replied, “Oh yes, you had put them here, I remember it well; but they are no more…” Another time he met a beggar without a shirt and, entering a doorway, took off his own and gave it to the poor man. He repeated the same gesture, giving away his trousers. When he got home, to those who complained to him about his exaggerated generosity, he replied, "I give one, I'll get a hundred!" St. Alfonso never doubted Divine Providence; his only strength was his trust and absolute abandonment in God. He loved to repeat, “Jesus keeps us written in his hands and will never be able to forget us”..

St. Alfonso shared with his spiritual Daughters the treasures of grace that he accumulated in contemplating the Eucharist. He never took any initiative or decision before spending hours and hours in adoration before Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament. The founding of the Baptistine Institute had undoubtedly matured in front of the Blessed Sacrament.

The love for Mary, under the title of Mary Immaculate and Our Lady of Sorrows, sustained his priestly life and the prominent aspects of his apostolic mission: “We have recourse to Mary because she is our Mediatrix, our Advocate; she is our real Mother.”

In 1902, while the Founder was alive, the Baptistine Institute was also brought to America in the wake of the emigrants, whose children needed assistance and teaching.
Today, the Sisters of the Congregation of St. John the Baptist are present throughout Italy, the United States of America, Brazil, Chile, Zambia, Canada, India, the Philippines, Korea, Poland, Camerun, Mexico, South Africa, Malawi, Cameroon, Madagascar, Moldova, Haiti and Vietnam.