⁍ The Vatican in June announced the beatification of Hernandez, a doctor known for treating the poor during the Spanish flu pandemic a century ago.

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⁍ The decree moves him a step closer to sainthood.

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⁍ The exhumation will collect relics including skeletal remains and clothing.

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– He’s a step closer to sainthood. Reuters reports forensic experts in Venezuela on Monday exhumed the body of Jose Gregorio Hernandez, a 19th-century priest known as the “doctor of the poor.” Pope Francis in June signed a beatification decree for Hernandez, who died in 1919. The exhumation is meant to “guarantee the prolonged preservation of his body,” the Venezuelan Episcopal Conference said in a statement. relics including Hernandez’s skeletal remains and clothing will be distributed to dioceses in Venezuela, the Holy See, and sanctuaries created in other countries in honor of Hernandez.