Venezuela will have its first female saint after approval from Pope Francis

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CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) — Venezuela is set to have its first female saint following approval from Pope Francis.

On Monday, he paved the way for the canonization of Blessed María Carmen Rendiles by authorizing a decree recognizing a miracle attributed to her, the founder of the Congregation of the Handmaids of Jesus.

A date for her canonization has not been set.

She was born on Aug. 11, 1903, in the Venezuelan capital, Caracas, and died there on May 9, 1977.

From a young age, following her father’s death, Rendiles helped her mother support the family and worked at a local parish.

She joined a French congregation in Venezuela in 1927 and became a novice at age 24. In 1961, supported by the local Catholic hierarchy, she founded an autonomous congregation.

The Catholic bishops conference of Venezuela said in a news release Monday that she struggled with the loss of an arm, but her physical deficiency “did not prevent her from developing an exemplary Christian life.”

Catholic leaders in Venezuela requested her canonization in 1995. She was beatified in 2018.

According to the Vatican, she miraculously cured a young woman diagnosed with a type of hydrocephalus, a condition in which cerebrospinal fluid builds up within the brain.

Her condition had worsened until a Mass was celebrated before Rendiles’ grave. Loved ones prayed for her recovery. And after the sick woman touched Rendiles’ portrait, her health improved.

“The young woman’s recovery was complete, stable and long-lasting, and the event was deemed scientifically inexplicable,” the Holy See said in a written statement.

Earlier this year, Pope Francis approved the canonization of Blessed José Gregorio Hernández (born Oct. 26, 1864), known as “the poor’s doctor,” the first Venezuelan layperson to be beatified.

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