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6h ago

Vatican to Canonize Venezuela's First Saints as Calls for Prisoner Releases Grow

Clemency appeals from church leaders and opposition figures face a firm government denial.

En el marco de las actividades previas a la ceremonia, este viernes en Roma se celebró el acto académico
Un médico y una monja que nació sin un brazo son los primeros santos venezolanos. (JUAN BARRETO/AFP via Getty Images).
Decenas de venezolanos se congregaron este sábado en las calles de Roma, cerca del Vaticano, para exigir la liberación de los presos políticos en su país.

Overview

  • Pope León XIV presides at Sunday's Mass in St. Peter's Square to canonize José Gregorio Hernández and Carmen Rendiles, with five other blesseds from Turkey, Papua New Guinea and Italy also to be proclaimed.
  • Venezuelans rallied near the Vatican on Saturday, laying photos in Piazza del Risorgimento and gathering at Piazza Pio XII to demand a 'canonization without political prisoners' and the release of up to 900 detainees.
  • The Venezuelan Episcopal Conference called the occasion an opening for measures of grace that would free those jailed for political reasons.
  • President Nicolás Maduro and Attorney General Tarek William Saab reject the 'political prisoner' label and say arrests followed the law, even as NGOs such as Foro Penal report hundreds still detained after the disputed 2024 unrest.
  • Maduro has claimed a personal role in advancing Hernández’s cause and recently asked the Vatican to mediate with the United States, underscoring the ceremony’s diplomatic overtones.