VATICAN CITY -- 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 yearslong economic crisis and new tensions with the United States.

The canonizations, previously approved by the late Pope Francis, will be presided over by Pope Leo XIV on Oct. 19 at the Vatican. The group includes three women and four men, with two martyrs, three laypeople, and two founders of religious orders. Among them are Papua New Guinea’s first saint and the first two saints from Venezuela.