Doctor José Gregorio Hernández, Doctor of Medicine, Office of Financial Services was a Venezuelan physician.
Education
In 1888 Hernández graduated as a medical doctor at Universidad Central de Venezuela, in Caracas. Hernández traveled to Paris, France, where he studied other fields of medicine such as: bacteriology, pathology, microbiology, histology, and physiology. He studied at the Monastery of Lucca in Italy for ten months in 1908.
Career
Born in Isnotú, Trujillo State, Venezuela, he went on to reach legendary status, more so after his death. The Venezuelan government awarded him a grant to continue his studies in Europe. Following his return to Venezuela, he became a leading doctor at the Hospital José María Vargas.
Between 1891 and 1916, Hernández dedicated himself to teaching, medicine, and religious practice.
In 1913, he enrolled at the Latin American Pío School of Rome to continue the priestly career, but had to return to Venezuela for health reasons. Among the scientific publications of this famous Venezuelan are The Elements of Bacteriology (1906), About the Angina Pectoris of Malaric Origin (1909) and The Elements of Philosophy (1912).
Doctor Hernández treated the poor for free and even bought them medicines with his own money. One day in 1919, while bringing medicine to the home of one of his patients in Caracas, Hernández was struck by a car and killed.
After his life, the legend of Doctor Hernández began to grow in Venezuela.
People around the country started claiming to have been granted miracles after praying for his intercession to God. At present, Doctor Hernandez is commonly invoked as "José Gregorio" by both doctors and patients for healing purposes.He is also called upon for protection during overland journeys. Eventually, his name became known all over Latin America and Spain.
The Vatican granted him the title of Venerable in 1985.
The next step in the process for Doctor Hernández is that of beatification. Pope Francis accepted a visit to Venezuela by President Nicolás Maduro and intended to beatify Hernández.
He is, also, revered by Venezuela"s alternative and syncretic religion the Cult of Maria Lionza. Historian Steven Palmer also has drawn parallels between the Hernández cult and that of the assassinated Costa Rican physician and politician Ricardo Moreno Cañas.
A private university in Maracaibo, Universidad Doctor José Gregorio Hernández (launched in 2003), is named for him.
In 2008 he was honoured with the naming of a Bolivarian Mission, Misión Doctor José Gregorio Hernández, dedicated to the health of Venezuelans with disabilities. In 2011, Hernández" birthday, October 26, was declared a "day of national celebration". On August 26, 2014, the Catholic Bishops Conference of Venezuela called on all Catholics to attend Mass and thank God "for the life and example of this great Venezuelan, with great hope and implore the grace of his speedy beatification" on the occasion of the 150th anniversary of Hernandez" birth (Sunday, October 26, 2014).