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Venezuela The nation is set for a moment of national celebration this Sunday as Pope Leo XIV canonizes the country’s beloved “doctor of the poor,” José Gregorio Hernández.
The historic ceremony will give the Caribbean nation its first saint, providing a ray of hope amid years of economic crisis and new tensions with the United States.
Dr. Hernandez, revered by millions for his dedication to poor communities, will be canonized along with Mother Carmen Rendils Martínez, the founder of the Venezuelan religious order.
Thousands of Venezuelans are expected to attend the mass in St. Peter’s Square, with more to come caracas To watch a livestream of the Vatican service.
A total of seven people will be canonized at the ceremony, including Papua New Guinea’s first saint, Peter Too Rot, a layman who was assassinated in 1945 for advocating monogamy.
Pope Francis Canonization of Dr. Hernandez approved From his hospital room on February 24Bypassing the Vatican’s typical miracle confirmation process. The decision was based on “the widespread respect for the ‘doctor-saint’ among the faithful,” the Vatican said.
Dr. Hernandez is beloved among Venezuelans, his face featured on street art around caracasIn paintings in hospitals and in photographs that grace 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 and when Pope John Paul II visited he became a religious icon. Venezuela In February 1996, he received a petition signed by five million people – approximately one in four Venezuelans – requesting that he canonize Dr. Hernández.
“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.”
Arquimides Blanco, 60, said he was not a particular fan of Dr. Hernandez but now recognizes the importance of his canonization for Venezuela. Mr. Blanco was a member of the cultural group that was commissioned to paint the streets around the church of the symbolic parish of La Pastora, as part of the 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.
The canonization is a long-awaited celebration and a boost for Venezuela just weeks later Venezuelan opposition leader Maria Corina Machado wins Nobel Peace PrizeIt comes as tensions rise with the United States over Washington’s use of military force against suspected drug cartels.
US President Donald Trump had confirmed this only last week. He authorized the CIA to conduct covert operations inside Venezuela And said he was considering executing land 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 – sworn in in 2024 despite credible evidence that he lost re-election – has been forced to cut subsidies, leaving many daily necessities unaffordable for the 80 percent of residents living in poverty.
Also being canonized on Sunday are Armenian Catholic Archbishop Ignazio Choukralla 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 Troncati 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.