Pope Leo XIV Canonizes Venezuela’s First Saint | JQJO

Pope Leo XIV canonized Venezuela’s “doctor of the poor,” José Gregorio Hernández, before about 70,000 at St. Peter’s Square, giving the country its first saint as thousands of Venezuelans waved flags in Rome and watched from Caracas. Mother Carmen Rendiles Martínez was also declared a saint. The Mass, a seven-person canonization that Pope Francis set in motion and approved from a hospital room, also recognized Peter To Rot as Papua New Guinea’s first saint. The celebration offered Venezuela a rare lift amid deep economic crisis and rising tensions with the United States.