VATICAN CITY (AP) — Pope Leo XIV canonized Venezuela’s beloved “doctor of the poor” Sunday before tens of thousands of people, offering the South American nation its first saint and a reason to celebrate amid a years-long economic crisis and new tensions with the United States.

Jose Gregorio Hernandez, revered by millions for his dedication to poor people, was declared a saint alongside the founder of a Venezuelan religious order, Mother Carmen Rendiles Martinez, at a Mass in St. Peter’s Square that Leo called a “great celebration of holiness.”

Thousands of jubilant Venezuelans filled the square and draped Venezuelan flags on its police barricades, adding splashes of red, blue and yellow that perfectly matched the uniforms of the attending Swiss Guards.

Thousands more who couldn’t trave

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