Pope names first two saints from Venezuela

Pope Leo XIV named José Gregorio Hernández and Mother Carmen Rendiles Martínez as Venezuela’s first saints on Sunday.

Why It Matters

Venezuelans in St. Peter’s Square and across the country marked the milestone which comes as the nation grapples with economic crisis and political unrest. It follows Venezuela opposition leader María Corina Machado’s Nobel Peace Prize win and a U.S. military campaign in the Caribbean that has left more than two dozen dead in strikes on suspected drug-running vessels.

Sainthood is the church’s official acknowledgment that someone lived a life of holiness and is in heaven, serving as an example of Christian faith, devotion, and virtue.

What To Know

During Sunday mass in St. Peter’s Square, which drew tens of thousands, the pope named seven new Saints from around the world, including two from Venezuela.

The new saints include Ignatius Choukrallah Maloyan, Peter To Rot, Vincenza Maria Poloni, Maria del Monte Carmelo Rendiles Martínez, Maria Troncatti, José Gregorio Hernández Cisneros, and Bartolo Longo. Peter To Rot is the first saint from Papua New Guinea.

In his address, the pope said, “Today we have before us seven witnesses, the new Saints, who, with God’s grace, kept the lamp of faith burning,” adding, “Indeed, they themselves became lamps capable of spreading the light of Christ.”

Venezuelan flags fluttered around the square and worshippers wore shirts with the new saints faces and names as they celebrated, coming against a backdrop of political turmoil and economic crisis. In Venezuela, crowds came together to follow the announcement on livestream.

Hernández, known as “the doctor of the poor” for refusing to charge patients without much means and often paying for their medicine, is beloved in Venezuela, the Associated Press reported. He was a doctor in Caracas in the late 1800s and early 1900s as well as a professor of practical pathology and founder of the department of bacteriology at the University of Caracas.

Martínez, was a nun who founded the religious order of Servants of Jesus. She was born in Caracas in 1903 with one arm.

Murals of Hernández and Martínez have appeared throughout Venezuela as well as in neighboring countries.

The pope, Robert Prevost, is a missionary-turned-Vatican official who spent much of his career ministering in Peru. He is the first American pope in the Church’s over 2,000-year history.

What People Are Saying

Maria Corina Machado, opposition leader and Nobel Peace Prize winner, said in a Sunday X post: “Venezuela today awakens blessed with its two saints, José Gregorio and Mother Carmen. They are the saints of all Venezuelans, and we know that their miracles will continue to be for the benefit of a people that wants to live united, in peace, with freedom and dignity.”

Edmundo Gonzalez, a politician and former Venezuelan ambassador to Argentina, wrote in Spanish in an X post on Sunday: “A day of joy for Venezuelans. The canonization of José Gregorio Hernández and Carmen Rendiles reminds us that the greatness of a country is measured by its capacity to serve with generosity and humility. They embody the Venezuela we want to recover, a solidary and honest land where faith becomes action, where each person can live with dignity and hope. Their example renews our commitment to the country and our conviction that Venezuela can rise, united and strong, on the values that gave us strength and meaning.”

Delsa Solorzano, president of the Venezuela’s Citizen Encounter Party, wrote in a Sunday X post: “Today Venezuela is filled with joy. In times when our land most needs to heal, a luminous sign reaches us from the sky: Venezuela has two saints. Saint José Gregorio Hernández, healer of soul and body, whose devotion I inherited from my grandfather José Bernal, and Saint Carmen Rendiles, a woman of quiet service and unwavering love. They intercede for us before God today. As a Catholic, I feel my heart full of emotion and hope. May our Venezuelan saints cover us with their sacred mantle, teach us to believe once again in goodness, and let their blessings bring freedom for all political prisoners, consolation for those who suffer, and faith for an entire nation that does not give up.”

Pope Leo XIV wrote in an X post on Sunday: “Today marks World Mission Sunday. The Church is entirely missionary, but today we pray especially for those men and women who have left everything to bring the Gospel to those who do not yet know it. They are missionaries of hope among the nations. May the Lord bless them!”