On June 19, in an audience with Cardinal Angelo Becciu, Pope Francis passed the decree enforced by the Congregation for the Causes of Saints approving the beatification of Doctor José Gregorio Hernández.
The “Poor People’s Doctor,” as he is commonly known in Venezuela, was recognized as the new holy figure of Catholicism at a plenary of Cardinals held in Rome.
The Congregation for the Causes of Saints unanimously recognized in January the miracle about Yaxury Solárzano, a 10-year-old girl from Guárico State, who received a bullet in her right temporal lobe and did not undergo surgery until 50 hours later, causing her to lose brain mass.
Notwithstanding, she was discharged 20 days later against all prognosis.
The country’s catholic authorities submitted the petition to the Vatican for José Gregorio Hernández to become saint back in 1949.
In 2013, during a visit of President Nicolás Maduro to Rome, he conveyed to Pope Francis “the Venezuelan people’s clamor: The beatification of the People’s Saint, Doctor José Gregorio Hernández.”
On Thursday, the Venezuelan president celebrated the approval of beatification to the “Poor People’s Doctor.”
“What a joy! 7 years after we took our petition to Pope Francis in Rome, the Cardinals of the Holy See approved the beatification of the People’s Saint, Doctor José Gregorio Hernández. The people’s prayers have been listened! We are close to this great moment,” he expressed.
José Gregorio Hernández was born on October 26, 1864, in Isnotú, Trujillo State, Western Venezuela. He studied medicine, and, though he did not devote himself completely to religious life, he was a devoted catholic from an early age.
José Gregorio Hernández died in 1919 after been hit by a car in Caracas. Since then, he has been worshiped by many believers, mainly from Latin America, where he has been credited with curing illnesses.