Hundreds of faithful took to the streets of Caracas for a pilgrimage marking the first anniversary of the canonization of José Gregorio Hernández and Carmen Rendiles, the first Venezuelan saints, in a celebration that became a plea for hope after the earthquake that struck the country in June.
The procession began at the Sagrado Corazón de Jesús church in La Hoyada and wound through several churches, a hospital and a museum dedicated to Hernández before concluding with a Mass that drew an enthusiastic crowd. The two figures were elevated to sainthood in October 2025 at a ceremony in St Peter's Square attended by tens of thousands of believers.
Belkis Rosales, a member of the Congregation of the Servants of Jesus of Venezuela, stressed the importance of the saints in a country scarred by suffering. «The intercession of our saints is vital in the face of the pain left by the earthquake of 24 June, which caused at least 6,509 deaths and left almost 18,000 people affected,» she said. Official figures also record that 856 buildings were damaged, of which 190 collapsed.
In a gesture of unity and hope, Rosales asked for the intercession of Hernández and Rendiles for the health of Pope Leo XIV, who was recently operated on for a cancerous tumour in the lung and was discharged from hospital the previous Saturday.
José Gregorio Hernández, known as the «doctor of the poor», was born in 1864 in Isnotú, in Trujillo state. Raised in a home of deep religious conviction, his legacy was built on compassion and service to those most in need. His death in 1919, after being struck by a vehicle in Caracas, did not halt his path toward sainthood; he was beatified in 2021 thanks to the miracle attributed to the survival of Yaxury Solórzano Ortega, a girl who survived a gunshot wound to the head.
Carmen Rendiles was born in Caracas in 1903 and faced rejection from an early age because of a disability that left her with almost no left arm. Her religious vocation nonetheless led her to found a new institute within the Congregation of the Servants of Jesus in 1965, where she became the first superior general. Despite a traffic accident in 1974 that left her with a fractured leg, she continued her work until her death in 1977.
The anniversary celebration revives the memory of two emblematic figures and stands as a symbol of hope and resilience in a country still searching for light amid adversity. For the communities that joined the pilgrimage, the witness of the «doctor of the poor» and the founder of the new institute remains a living reference point for faith, service and endurance.