Thursday, May 25, 2006
The Vatican to Cannonize Three Canarians
Julio Sánchez Domínguez, parish priest of the church of Nuestra Señora de Las Nieves (Our Lady of the Snows) in El Palmar de Teror, Gran Canaria, has for the last six years been touring Latin American countries in search of personalities born in the Canary Islands or with Canarian ancestry, who had gained some reputation in those far away lands.
Up to the present, his attention has been focussed on three Servants of God, who are in process of beautification: Jacinto de Vera Durán, whose parents were from Lanzarote and who became the first Bishop of Montevideo (Uruguay); Fray Andresito (Friar Andresito), born in Fuerteventura, who is venerated in the Uraguayan capital for his humanitarian work; and Hermano José Marcos Figueroa (Brother Figueroa), born in Lanzarote, who left his mark in Uruguay as a model of humility, simplicity and help.
Julio Sánchez has worked hard to document these three Canarian figures, with the aim of gaining them recognition in the islands where their lives and works had previously been little known. An ignorance, which he says, contributes to the scant interest shown by the diosis in spreading their stories.
El Vaticano quiere canonizar a tres canarios
