Venezuelan physician José Gregorio Hernández is already beatified

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – The Venezuelan doctor José Gregorio Hernández was beatified this Friday in Caracas in a reduced ceremony, according to the security measures required by the pandemic, attended by only 150 people.

In a ceremony led by the Apostolic Nuncio in Venezuela, Aldo Giordano, and in the presence of the ecclesiastical authorities, “the doctor of the poor” became the first blessed of the Caribbean country, where it is hoped that he will soon be canonized, for which the veracity of a second miracle must be provided.

“From now on, he will be called blessed and will be celebrated every year in the places and according to the rules established by law on October 26,” said Giordano immediately after the reading of the document confirming the beatification, approved by Pope Francis.

The words of the nuncio were praised and applauded by those present, who shouted in unison: “Long live José Gregorio! José Gregorio is ours!”

The beatification took place after Pope Francis recognized the miracle granted to the girl Yaxury Solórzano Ortega, who was shot in the head during an assault while she was with her father. The doctors who attended her had given her life.

The event occurred in March 2017, in the central state of Guárico, and 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 cure, which is why, according to the version of her relatives, endorsed by the pope, she was saved.

In the brief missive of the Pope read by Giordano, Francis recalled that the beatification takes place “welcoming the request” of the Venezuelan Cardinal Baltazar Porras and the Venezuelan faithful.

In the same letter, he also recognized that the Servant of God José Gregorio Hernández was a “faithful layman, expert in science and excellent in faith”, who helped the sick, in whose face he recognized the Lord.

Source: efe

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