He established a male institute on 1 June 1867 and one for women in 1872 both in Verona: the Istituto delle Missioni per la Nigrizia (since 1894 the Comboni Missionaries of the Heart of Jesus) and the Istituto delle Pie Madri (later the Comboni Missionary Sisters) on 1 January 1872. On 7 May 1867 he had an audience with Pope Pius IX and brought with him twelve African girls to meet the pope while in late 1867 opened two branches of the order in Cairo. Comboni was the first to bring women into this form of work in Africa and he founded new missions in El Obeid and Delen amongst other Sudanese cities. Comboni was well-versed in the Arabic language and also spoke in several African dialects (Dinka, Bari and Nubia) as well as six European languages. On 2 April 1868 he was decorated with the Order of the Knight of Italy but he refused this in fidelity to Pius IX. On 7 July 1868 he left for France where he visited the shrine of La Salette on 26 July before heading to Germany and Austria. On 20 February 1869 he left Marseilles for Cairo where he opened a third house on 15 March.