Despite years of tyranny, economic hardship, mass migration, family separation, arbitrary imprisonment, lack of access to food and medical supplies, and other issues that impact their quality of life, there’s one thing the people of Venezuela still hold dear: their faith. As a matter of fact, these problems have seemingly made their convictions even stronger. It’s one of the few institutions Nicolás Maduro hasn’t completely ruined.
It’s hard to know the exact numbers due to some of those issues I mentioned above, but most sources estimate that about 90% of the country believes in Christianity. The majority is Catholic, but there’s a growing number of evangelicals, too.
Over the weekend, that devotion to faith was recognized on the world stage when Pope Leo XIV canonized Venezuela’s very first saints —José Gregorio Hernández and María del Carmen Rendiles Martínez — in St. Peters Square in front of a crowd of about 70,000, which included thousands of Venezuelans.
(Maria Corina Machado’s Spanish caption below reads, “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.”)
Venezuela hoy amanece bendecida con sus dos santos, José Gregorio y la Madre Carmen. Son los santos de todos los venezolanos y sabemos que sus milagros seguirán siendo en beneficio de un pueblo que quiere vivir unido, en paz, con libertad y dignidad. pic.twitter.com/2DcRkBquGv
— María Corina Machado (@MariaCorinaYA) October 19, 2025
Meanwhile, back in Venezuela, people who couldn’t make it to Rome celebrated as well, by gathering, singing, and praying for the miracle that it seems their country is on the verge of receiving. I also read some rumors on social media that Maduro was “working closely” with the Catholic Church to sort of use the unified moment to boost his own image. That would not surprise me, but it’s not confirmed.
Despite the celebrations, hearts were heavy. The day before the ceremony, hundreds of Venezuelan exiles, activists, and relatives of the Maduro regime’s political prisoners gathered near the Vatican at Rome’s Piazza del Risorgimento and created a stunning visual with printouts featuring the names and photos of over 800 political prisoners arbitrarily detained by Maduro and his thugs.
They called the movement Canonización Sin Presos Políticos or “Canonization Without Political Prisoners.” Human rights groups and opposition saw it as a way to show the world the abuses the country is facing at the hands of Maduro, with hopes that the Vatican might intervene. It started weeks before the actual ceremony. They held protests, vigils, and group prayers for the oppressed. I’m going to post some pictures and video of Saturday’s demonstration, and I apologize for the Spanish captions, but I’m posting for the sake of the visuals.
🚨 ¡ÚLTIMA HORA VENEZUELA! 🚨🇻🇪
LO ÚLTIMO 🚨 Desde el Vaticano familiares de los presos políticos en Venezuela se hicieron presentes en Roma para pedir una Canonización Sin presos políticos. pic.twitter.com/cs02Rqf4Ir
— ¡DIFUNDELO YA! (@DIFUNDELOYA) October 18, 2025
Los nombres de los más de 800 presos políticos venezolanos presentes en la Piazza del Risorgimiento, en Roma.
Son rehenes de Maduro y su régimen; merecen libertad.
Por ellos abogamos ante el Papa León XIV, para que la Iglesia interceda y estén otra vez junto a sus familias.… pic.twitter.com/2EO24RyD3u
— Comando ConVzla (@ConVzlaComando) October 18, 2025
#AHORA Desde Roma, familiares y activistas de DDHH protestan con las fotos impresas de los más de 800 presos políticos venezolanos.
Exigen #CanonizaciónSinPresosPolíticos, a un día de la ceremonia oficial de canonización de José Gregorio Hernández y Carmen Rendiles en el… pic.twitter.com/u9O18NJf5w
— Cristian Crespo F. 🇨🇺 (@cristiancrespoj) October 18, 2025
While the pope himself did not respond directly, others key figures did. Vatican Secretary of State Pietro Parolin spoke at one point and said, “Only then, dear Venezuela, will your light shine in the darkness, your gloom become midday. Yes, you will hear the words of the Lord, who calls you to open the prisons, the unjust prisons, to break the bolts of the shackles, to set the oppressed free, to break all the shackles.”
He added, “Only in this way, dear Venezuela, will you be able to fulfill your vocation for peace, if you build it on the foundations of justice, truth, freedom, and love, of respect for human rights, creating spaces for encounter and democratic coexistence, giving priority to what unites and not what divides…”
Cardinal Baltazar Porras said that Venezuela is facing a “morally unacceptable situation,” adding: “The threat to the exercise of civil liberties, the growth of poverty, militarization as a form of government that incites violence and introduces it as part of everyday life, corruption and the lack of autonomy of public powers and the disrespect for the will of the people, create a panorama that does not contribute to peaceful coexistence and the overcoming of the structural deficiencies of society.”
He also mentioned the “political prisoners deprived of their liberty, for reasons that are not always clear.”
So, who are the two new saints? José Gregorio Hernández was a Venezuelan doctor who lived during the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. He trained in Paris and returned home to open the country’s first bacteriology lab. However, he’s most known for his willingness to treat low-income individuals for free, which earned him the nickname “doctor of the poor.” He attempted to get into the priesthood himself a couple of times, but his own fragile health prevented it. He symbolizes the connection between faith and science, and his willingness to work with the poor is especially poignant as many Venezuelans face their own healthcare crises at the hands of Maduro.
María del Carmen Rendiles Martínez was born without her left arm, and while she was often rejected from society, she felt called to a religious life. At the age of 23, she founded the congregation of the Servants of Jesus of Caracas and became a Venezuelan religious sister of the Servants of the Eucharist. Her life serves as a testament to the disabled, and she’s a model of perseverance, something many Venezuelans can relate to today.
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Between the canonization of the saints, Machado’s Nobel Peace Prize win, Donald Trump’s war on narco-terrorism, and recent condemnations of Maduro and his Cartel de los Soles from countries all over the world, Venezuela is finally getting the spotlight it deserves on the world stage. With any luck, all of this attention will finally help free the country from the constraints of communism and dictatorship.
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