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Pope Leo XIV will finally canonize VenezuelaOn Sunday their beloved “doctor of the poor” offered the Caribbean nation its first saint and a reason to celebrate amid a years-long economic crisis and new tensions with it. United States of America,
José Gregorio Hernández, revered by millions for his devotion to the poor, will be canonized alongside Mother Carmen Rendils Martínez, founder of the Venezuelan religious order, at a Mass in St. Peter’s Square.
Thousands of Venezuelans are expected to attend, and thousands who could not travel to Rome will mark the occasion. caracasWhere the Vatican service will be livestreamed from a plaza in the city on Sunday morning.
The mass would also give Papua New Guinea its first saint: Peter Two Rot, a layman who died in prison in 1945 for standing up for monogamy, at a time when polygamy was practiced. In total, seven people will be declared saints in a ceremony Pope Francis Some of his last actions as Pope were set in motion.
In fact, Francis approved Hernandez’s canonization from his hospital room on Feb. 24, agreeing to bypass the Vatican’s typical miracle confirmation process and canonize him based on “the widespread veneration of the ‘doctor-saint’ among the faithful,” the Vatican said.
A beloved doctor and a role model after death
Hernández is beloved among Venezuelans, his face appearing in street art around Caracas, paintings in hospitals and photographs gracing personal home altars.
As a doctor in Caracas in the late 1800s and early 1900s, he refused to take money from poor people for his services and would often charge them for medicine, earning him the nickname “Doctor of the Poor”. In 1919 he was murdered while crossing the road shortly after picking up some medicine from the pharmacy to give to a poor elderly woman.
After his death he became a religious icon, and when Pope John Paul II visited Venezuela in February 1996, he received a petition signed by 5 million people – approximately one in four Venezuelans – demanding Hernández be declared a saint.
“For him, this is really a national event of the highest order,” said Silvia Corelli, who led the case for his canonization. “Certainly, the canonization of José Gregorio is desired by all Venezuelans, and has been awaited by all people.”
Archimedes Blanco, 60, said he was not a particular fan of Hernández but now recognizes the importance of his canonization for Venezuela. Blanco was a member of a cultural collective assigned to paint the streets around the church of the symbolic parish of La Pastora, as part of preparations for the canonization.
“I may not be a big fan of José Gregorio, but I think he’s Venezuelan and his canonization is important in the context of the whole geopolitical situation,” he said.
celebration amid tension
Just weeks after Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado won the Nobel Peace Prize, the canonization is a long-awaited celebration and a boost for Venezuela. It comes as tensions rise with the United States over Washington’s use of military force against suspected drug cartels.
Just last week, US President Donald Trump confirmed that he has authorized the CIA to conduct covert operations inside Venezuela and said that he is considering the execution of ground operations in the South American country.
The Venezuelan economy has been in crisis for the past decade, leading to the emigration of millions of Venezuelans, first to other South American countries and then, in recent years, to the United States.
The country’s economic devastation has increased further due to American sanctions. The government of President Nicolas Maduro – who was sworn in last year despite credible evidence that he had lost re-election – has been forced to cut subsidies, making many daily necessities unaffordable for the estimated 80% of residents living in poverty.
other new saints
Also being canonized on Sunday are Armenian Catholic Archbishop Ignazio Choukrallah Maloyan, who was beatified by the Vatican for refusing to renounce his faith during the Ottoman-era genocide of the Armenian people; Sister Vincenza Maria Poloni, founder of a religious order in the 19th century; Maria Troncatti and Bartolo Longo, an Italian missionary in Ecuador who, like Hernandez, will be canonized not on the basis of alleged miraculous healings, but on the basis of widespread veneration among believers.
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Arraez replied from Caracas, Venezuela. Associated Press visual journalists Silvia Stellacchi and Maria Celine Clemente Vatican City Contributed to this report.
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Associated Press religion coverage is supported by the AP’s collaboration with The Conversation US, with funding from the Lilly Endowment Inc. AP is solely responsible for this content.