MONUMENTO AL SANTO HERMANO PEDRO

Pedro de Bethencourt (1626-1667) was born in Vilaflor (Tenerife), from small or worked in the field with his father showing interest in the religious world that he shares with his family.

When he was 23, he left his land for America in order to become a missionary. From Santa Cruz de Tenerife I took a boat to Cuba. One year after his arrival he moved to Guatemala where he carried out his pastoral work. He began studying at the San Lucas school of the Company of Jesus and after acquiring a basic training he entered as Tertiary of the Order of San Francisco in the Convent that bears this name. He founded the Hospital of Convalescents of Our Lady of Bethencourt and the Order of the Betlemite Brothers that Pope Clement X grants him the category of monastic order.

When he was only 41 years old in 1667, he died suddenly. He was buried in the church of San Francisco in Antigua Guatemala.

His canonization process lasted for 350 years. Documentation proving at least one miracle was impossible to locate. The process begins formally in 1698 and it is not until 1771 when Pope Clement XIV declares him Venerable. Between 1960 and 1970, the process was resumed again with Pope Paul VI, later showing his agreement Pope John Paul I.

On June 22, 1980, Pope John Paul II beatified Brother Peter in St. Peter's Basilica in the Vatican in the same act in which the beatification of the lagoon Jos de Anchieta took place.

He is Canonized by Pope John Paul II on July 30 ...