Venezuela is set to have its first female saint following approval from Pope Francis.
On Monday, he paved the way for the canonisation of Blessed Maria Carmen Rendiles by authorising a decree recognising a miracle attributed to her, the founder of the Congregation of the Handmaids of Jesus.
A date for her canonisation has not been set.
Carmen Rendiles was born on August 11 1903 in the Venezuelan capital, Caracas, and died there on May 9 1977.
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A cardboard cutout of Blessed Maria Carmen Rendiles stands at the entrance of her museum in Caracas (Ariana Cubillos/AP)
A cardboard cutout of Blessed Maria Carmen Rendiles stands at the entrance of her museum in Caracas (Ariana Cubillos/AP)(Ariana Cubillos/AP)
From a young age, following her father’s death, Sister 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 on 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 canonisation in 1995. She was beatified in 2018.
According to the Vatican, Sister Rendiles 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 Sister Rendiles’ grave.
Loved ones prayed for her recovery. And after the sick woman touched Sister 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 canonisation of Blessed Jose Gregorio Hernandez, born in October 1864, known as “the poor’s doctor”, the first Venezuelan layperson to be beatified.