Venezuela has its first saint

VATICAN CITY.— Pope Francis has approved the decree for the canonization of Blessed Venezuelan José Gregorio Hernández Cisneros, who will become Venezuela's first saint .

Francis, who is currently hospitalized at Rome's Gemelli Hospital due to bilateral pneumonia , signed the decree during a visit to him by the Vatican Secretary of State, Pietro Parolin, and the deputy Secretary of State, Venezuelan Edgar Peña Parra.

Hernández Cisneros , known as the “Doctor of the Poor” (1864-1919), was beatified on April 30, 2021 in Caracas.

Pope Francis had highlighted the figure of Gregorio Hernández after his beatification: “He was a doctor full of science and faith who knew how to recognize the face of Christ in the sick and, like a good Samaritan, he helped them with evangelical charity,” said the pontiff after the Regina Coeli prayer on May 2, 2021.

Venezuelan doctor José Gregorio Hernández, who died in 1919 , was beatified in Caracas in a small ceremony, in accordance with the security measures imposed at the time due to the pandemic, which was attended by only about 150 people.

The beatification came after Francis recognized the miracle granted to the girl Yaxury Solórzano Ortega , who was shot in the head during a robbery and who was given up for dead by doctors.

The incident occurred in March 2017, in the central state of Guárico, when the little girl was 10 years old. After the doctors who treated her told her parents that the girl was going to die, her mother prayed to José Gregorio for her healing , which is why, according to the version of her relatives, endorsed by the Pope, she was saved.

Following the announcement of the canonization, Venezuela reacted with joy in the streets, churches and on social media.

Dozens of devotees gathered yesterday around noon at the Candelaria church in Caracas , where his remains rest, on whose façade there were images of the doctor with messages such as " Let us pray to the Lord that José Gregorio be a saint now ," and where Venezuelan folk music was heard.

Some bought candles at various informal stalls selling the saint's merchandise outside the church, one of which told EFE that it had registered an increase in sales on Tuesday. Others had previously approached a statue of Hernandez, before which a believer knelt and raised her hands, while praying in silence.

In front of the church, taking photos, was Nataly Marcano, 37, who says she has “come closer” to the blessed in recent years, “putting health processes in his hands,” such as her mother’s operations, which “have gone wonderfully,” so now she feels “very excited” because “this day has arrived.”

"There are thousands and thousands, basically uncountable, of 'favors' that Venezuelans feel the doctor did for them," the auxiliary bishop of Caracas, Monsignor Carlos Márquez, told EFE.

President Nicolás Maduro , who was sworn in for a third term last January, thanked Pope Francis for approving the canonization, something he considered a “historic gesture” by the pontiff, as well as a gift to Venezuela and “ an act of justice for a man who in life was the protector of the most humble.”

Opposition member Edmundo González Urrutia also considered this event to be historic, as it strengthens “hope in the hearts” of the Venezuelan people and, he added, hopes that “confidence in a better future” for the country will be renewed.

Opposition leader María Corina Machado also celebrated the canonization, saying that “this good news” renews hope for a better future for the country.