Blessed Blessed may refer to: * The state of having received a blessing * Blessed, a title assigned by the Roman Catholic Church to someone who has been beatified Film and television * ''Blessed'' (2004 film), a 2004 motion picture about a supernatural ...

Jacinto Vera Durán (Atlantic Ocean, 3 July 1813 – Pan de Azúcar, Uruguay, 6 May 1881) was a

Uruguayan Uruguay (; ), officially the Oriental Republic of Uruguay ( es, República Oriental del Uruguay), is a country in South America. It shares borders with Argentina to its west and southwest and Brazil to its north and northeast; while bordering ...

Roman Catholic Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lette ...

prelate who served as the first bishop of Montevideo. He was an active minister in

Uruguay Uruguay (; ), officially the Oriental Republic of Uruguay ( es, República Oriental del Uruguay), is a country in South America. It shares borders with Argentina to its west and southwest and Brazil to its north and northeast; while bordering ...

, although his efforts to renew the priesthood and other ecclesial initiatives brought him into conflict with the Uruguayan government; this was the cause of his exile from the country, establishing himself in

Buenos Aires Buenos Aires ( or ; ), officially the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires ( es, link=no, Ciudad Autónoma de Buenos Aires), is the capital and primate city of Argentina. The city is located on the western shore of the Río de la Plata, on South ...

between October 1862 and August 1863, at which point a political change in Uruguay made his return possible. The popularity showcased by his reception continued throughout the rest of his life due to his intense and prolonged missionary work all over the diocese of Montevideo (at that time the only one for the whole country), of which he was made bishop upon its creation in 1878. A neighborhood of Montevideo was named after him in 1895. His fame of holiness led to the opening of his canonization process in 1935. On 5 May 2015, Pope Francis signed the decree of his heroic virtues, conferring him the title of

Venerable The Venerable (''venerabilis'' in Latin) is a style, a title, or an epithet which is used in some Western Christian churches, or it is a translation of similar terms for clerics in Eastern Orthodoxy and monastics in Buddhism. Christianity Cathol ...

upon him. On December 17, 2022, a miracle obtained through his intercession was approved and his beatification authorized; it was celebrated on 6 May 2023, in Montevideo.

Life

Jacinto Vera y Durán was born in mid-1813 on board a boat on the

Atlantic Ocean The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's five oceans, with an area of about . It covers approximately 20% of Earth's surface and about 29% of its water surface area. It is known to separate the " Old World" of Africa, Europe ...

to Gerardo Vera and Josefa Durán; the boat had been taking his parents from their place of origin in the

Canary Islands The Canary Islands (; es, Canarias, ), also known informally as the Canaries, are a Spanish autonomous community and archipelago in the Atlantic Ocean, in Macaronesia. At their closest point to the African mainland, they are west of Morocc ...

. The infant was

baptized Baptism (from grc-x-koine, βάπτισμα, váptisma) is a form of ritual purification—a characteristic of many religions throughout time and geography. In Christianity, it is a Christian sacrament of initiation and adoption, almost ...

during a boat stop at Nossa Senhora do Desterro in

Florianópolis Florianópolis () is the capital and second largest city of the state of Santa Catarina, in the South region of Brazil. The city encompasses Santa Catarina Island and surrounding small islands, as well as part of the mainland. It has a populat ...

Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...

. His siblings included his sisters María Teodora and Marianna and his brothers Dionisio Antonio de los Dolores and Francisco who died while in Brazil. From 1813 Vera lived on a leased farm until his parents purchased their own farm in 1819. He made his

First Communion First Communion is a ceremony in some Christian traditions during which a person of the church first receives the Eucharist. It is most common in many parts of the Latin Church tradition of the Catholic Church, Lutheran Church and Anglican Communi ...

in the chapel of Our Lady of Carmen called Doña Ana and received his

Confirmation In Christian denominations that practice infant baptism, confirmation is seen as the sealing of the covenant created in baptism. Those being confirmed are known as confirmands. For adults, it is an affirmation of belief. It involves laying on ...

around this stage as was the custom of the time. In 1832 he felt the call to the priesthood and from 1836 to 1841 studied under the

Jesuits The Society of Jesus ( la, Societas Iesu; abbreviation: SJ), also known as the Jesuits (; la, Iesuitæ), is a religious order (Catholic), religious order of clerics regular of pontifical right for men in the Catholic Church headquartered in Rom ...

(at the Colegio San Ignacio) in

where he became known for his intelligence as well as for his sharp and cheerful persona. He was elevated into the

diaconate A deacon is a member of the diaconate, an office in Christian churches that is generally associated with service of some kind, but which varies among theological and denominational traditions. Major Christian churches, such as the Catholic Churc ...

on 28 May 1841 and received his

ordination Ordination is the process by which individuals are Consecration, consecrated, that is, set apart and elevated from the laity class to the clergy, who are thus then authorization, authorized (usually by the religious denomination, denominational ...

on 5 June from the

Bishop of Buenos Aires The Archdiocese of Buenos Aires (''Archidioecesis Bonaerensis'') is one of thirteen Latin Metropolitan archdioceses of the Catholic Church in Argentina, South America. The Archbishopric of Buenos Aires is the Primatial see (protocollary first-r ...

Mariano Medrano y Cabrera. Vera celebrated his first

Mass Mass is an intrinsic property of a body. It was traditionally believed to be related to the quantity of matter in a physical body, until the discovery of the atom and particle physics. It was found that different atoms and different elementar ...

on 6 June at the church of the Catalinas in Buenos Aires before returning to Uruguay. On 4 October 1859 Vera was appointed as the Vicar Apostolic of Montevideo and he took office on 14 December. He sought renewal among priests and in January 1860 summoned all priests for the

Spiritual Exercises The ''Spiritual Exercises'' ( la, Exercitia spiritualia), composed 1522–1524, are a set of Christian meditations, contemplations, and prayers written by Ignatius of Loyola, a 16th-century Spanish priest, theologian, and founder of the Society ...

which he wanted to make a regular thing for their own growth as priests. He made a missionary trip from 25 April 1860 to January 1861 across the nation in order to meet with various people, preach and administer. But complications arose in Montevideo which caused him to be exiled to Buenos Aires from 8 October 1862 until 23 August 1863. But he was soon invited to return to his home nation after

Venancio Flores Venancio Flores Barrios (18 May 1808 – 19 February 1868) was a Uruguayan political leader and general. Flores was President of Uruguay from 1854 to 1855 (interim) and from 1865 to 1868. Background and early career In 1839, he was made politi ...

put the offer to him; he was met with a grand welcome upon his return. It was upon his return that the

Acting President An acting president is a person who temporarily fills the role of a country's president when the incumbent president is unavailable (such as by illness or a vacation) or when the post is vacant (such as for death, injury, resignation, dismissal ...

Atanasio Aguirre Atanasio de la Cruz Aguirre (2 June 1801 – 28 September 1875) was acting President of Uruguay from 1864 to 1865. Background Aguirre was a member of the National Party. He served as the President of the Chamber of Deputies of Uruguay in ...

asked

Pope Pius IX Pope Pius IX ( it, Pio IX, ''Pio Nono''; born Giovanni Maria Mastai Ferretti; 13 May 1792 – 7 February 1878) was head of the Catholic Church from 1846 to 1878, the longest verified papal reign. He was notable for convoking the First Vatican ...

to name Vera as a bishop. The pope accepted this recommendation in 1864 when he named Vera as the Titular Bishop of Megara on 22 September which prompted Vera to receive his

episcopal consecration A bishop is an ordained clergy member who is entrusted with a position of Episcopal polity, authority and oversight in a religious institution. In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance of dioceses. The role or offic ...

later on 16 July 1865. In 1867 Vera left for

Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus (legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...

to participate in the XIX centennial of the death of

Saint Peter Saint Peter; he, שמעון בר יונה, Šimʿōn bar Yōnāh; ar, سِمعَان بُطرُس, translit=Simʿa̅n Buṭrus; grc-gre, Πέτρος, Petros; cop, Ⲡⲉⲧⲣⲟⲥ, Petros; lat, Petrus; ar, شمعون الصفـا, Sham'un ...

and went on a long tour of

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...

and

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

while also visiting neighbouring

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , i ...

and

Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic ( pt, República Portuguesa, links=yes ), is a country whose mainland is located on the Iberian Peninsula of Southwestern Europe, and whose territory also includes the Atlantic archipelagos of ...

. It was also around this point that he made a pilgrimage to the

Holy Land The Holy Land; Arabic: or is an area roughly located between the Mediterranean Sea and the Eastern Bank of the Jordan River, traditionally synonymous both with the biblical Land of Israel and with the region of Palestine. The term "Holy ...

. In 1869 he set off to Rome again to participate in the

First Vatican Council The First Ecumenical Council of the Vatican, commonly known as the First Vatican Council or Vatican I was convoked by Pope Pius IX on 29 June 1868, after a period of planning and preparation that began on 6 December 1864. This, the twentieth ecu ...

and was there until the council closed in 1870 with the loss of the

Papal States The Papal States ( ; it, Stato Pontificio, ), officially the State of the Church ( it, Stato della Chiesa, ; la, Status Ecclesiasticus;), were a series of territories in the Italian Peninsula under the direct sovereign rule of the pope fro ...

. From 10-17 July 1871 Vera carried out a peace mission between General Timoteo Aparicio and President

Lorenzo Batlle y Grau Lorenzo Cristóbal Manuel Batlle y Grau (August 10, 1810 in Montevideo – May 8, 1887 in Montevideo) was the president of Uruguay from 1868 to 1872. Family background and early career He was the son of a wealthy merchant loyal to the Spanis ...

but this mediation failed and led to the

Revolution of the Lances The Revolution of the Lances (''Revolución de las Lanzas'') occurred in Uruguay from September 12, 1870 to April 6, 1872. Parties Led by Timoteo Aparicio, leader of the National Party of Uruguay (the Blancos) and a former army officer, it wa ...

. Vera supported the return of the Jesuits to the nation who settled in Montevideo on 3 September 1872 while also allowing for the

Salesians of Don Bosco The Salesians of Don Bosco (SDB), formally known as the Society of Saint Francis de Sales (), is a religious congregation of men in the Catholic Church, founded in the late 19th century by Italian priest Saint John Bosco to help poor children du ...

to come into the country with that order arriving on 26 December 1876; Bishop Vera sometimes corresponded with Saint Giovanni Bosco. Bishop Vera's posting as the vicar apostolic and the titular bishop ended on 15 July 1878 when the new

Pope Leo XIII Pope Leo XIII ( it, Leone XIII; born Vincenzo Gioacchino Raffaele Luigi Pecci; 2 March 1810 – 20 July 1903) was the head of the Catholic Church from 20 February 1878 to his death in July 1903. Living until the age of 93, he was the second-old ...

named him as the first Bishop of Montevideo after establishing the diocese and dissolving the apostolic vicariate. The bishop died in 1881 while on a mission and his funeral attracted hundreds of individuals who had hailed him as an energetic pastor and a saint known for his intelligence and his personal holiness.

Beatification process

The beatification process opened in the Montevideo archdiocese in an informative process that spanned from 27 July 1935 until its closure not long after in 1942; the

Congregation for Rites The Sacred Congregation of Rites was a congregation of the Roman Curia, erected on 22 January 1588 by Pope Sixtus V by '' Immensa Aeterni Dei''; it had its functions reassigned by Pope Paul VI on 8 May 1969. The Congregation was charged with the ...

were given all boxes of documentation at the end of the process but the cause remained inactive until 28 February 1992 when the

Congregation for the Causes of Saints In the Catholic Church, the Dicastery for the Causes of Saints, previously named the Congregation for the Causes of Saints (), is the dicastery of the Roman Curia that oversees the complex process that leads to the canonization of saints, pa ...

validated the informative phase. The postulation later compiled and submitted the

Positio In the Catholic Church, a ''positio'' (''Positio super Virtutibus'') is a document or collection of documents used in the process by which a person is declared Venerable, the second of the four steps on the path to canonization as a saint. Des ...

to the C.C.S. in 2012 for further assessment with the dossier spanning well over 2000 pages. Historians approved the cause on 19 February 2013 as did theologians on 18 September 2014 and the C.C.S. members on 5 May 2015. Just moments after the C.C.S. approved the cause it was taken to

Pope Francis Pope Francis ( la, Franciscus; it, Francesco; es, link=, Francisco; born Jorge Mario Bergoglio, 17 December 1936) is the head of the Catholic Church. He has been the bishop of Rome and sovereign of the Vatican City State since 13 March 2013. ...

for approval. The pope — on 5 May 2015 - confirmed that Vera had led a model Christian life of

heroic virtue Heroic virtue is a phrase coined by Augustine of Hippo to describe the virtue of early Christian martyrs and used by the Catholic Church. The Greek pagan term hero described a person with possibly superhuman abilities and great goodness, and "it ...

and named him as

. On 17 December 2022, Pope Francis recognized the miracle attributed to the late bishop's intercession, enabling his for beatification to take place. He was beatified in Montevideo on 6 May 2023 by Cardinal

Paulo Cezar Costa Paulo Cezar Costa (born 20 July 1967) is a Brazilian prelate of the Catholic Church who has been Metropolitan Archbishop of Brasilia since December 2020. He has been a bishop since 2010 and served as Bishop of São Carlos from 2016 to 2020. O ...

, who presided over the celebration on the pontiff's behalf. The current

postulator A postulator is the person who guides a cause for beatification or canonization through the judicial processes required by the Roman Catholic Church. The qualifications, role and function of the postulator are spelled out in the ''Norms to be Obse ...

for this cause is Carlo Calloni.

Debunked miracle

There was a supposed healing of a man dating back to 2005 in Montevideo that some believed to be a miracle from the intercession of the late bishop that could be investigated for his beatification. The Montevideo archdiocese opened a diocesan tribunal for this supposed miracle on 2 August 2015 though doubts about whether the healing was a miracle caused the investigation to cease since it was ruled that there existed evidence that could refute the supposed miraculous circumstances of the case.

References

Bibliography

* Lorenzo A. Pons, ''Biografía del Ilmo. y Revmo. señor don Jacinto Vera y Durán, primer Obispo de Montevideo'', Barreiro y Ramos, Montevideo, 1904. * Rafael Algorta Camusso, ''Monseñor Don Jacinto Vera. Notas biográficas'', Colegio Sagrado Corazón, Montevideo, 1931. * Ennrique Passadore, ''La vida de Mons. Jacinto Vera. Padre de la Iglesia Uruguaya'', Montevideo Entre Siglos, Montevideo, 1997. * Beatriz Torrendell Larravide, ''Geografía Histórica de Jacinto Vera. 150 años de la Misión'', edición de la autora, Montevideo, 2010. * José Gabriel González Merlano, ''El conflicto eclesiástico (1861-1862). Aspectos jurídicos de la discusión acerca del Patronato Nacional'', Universidad Católica del Uruguay y Tierra Adentro, Montevideo 2010. * Laura Álvarez Goyoaga, ''Don Jacinto Vera. El misionero santo'' (Historia novelada) Doble clic, Montevideo, 2010

External links