Pope Leo XIV has officially declared his first miracle as pontiff, crediting the 2007 recovery of a dying newborn in Rhode Island to divine intervention following a physician’s desperate prayer.
The Vatican announced this week that the ailing child, Tyquan Hall, who was born prematurely via emergency cesarean section and left with no detectable pulse, made a full recovery after a doctor invoked the name of a long-forgotten 19th-century Spanish priest.
The declaration elevates not just a miraculous story of life snatched from the jaws of death but also the potential sainthood of the humble cleric whose name was called in a moment of need.
‘We are thrilled that this recognition will move the cause of beatification and canonization forward for Venerable Servant of God Salvador Valera Parra,’ said Rev. Timothy Reilly of the Diocese of Providence, calling the papal pronouncement a blessing for Rhode Island and beyond.
The miracle marks the first to be authenticated under Pope Leo XIV, the newly elected American pontiff, and it may set in motion the canonization of Father Valera Parra, a priest who died in Spain in 1889 and had no known miracles to his name, until now.
According to the Diocese of Almeria, Dr. Juan Sanchez, a Spanish-born physician working in a Rhode Island hospital in 2007, found himself verging on despair.
Baby Tyquan had been born in critical condition – pale, turning blue and without a heartbeat, suffering from oxygen deprivation so severe that death, or permanent brain damage, seemed all but certain.
With no medical options left, Sanchez offered a prayer, not to a modern saint or well-known figure, but to Valera Parra, the patron of his hometown of Huércal-Overa in southeastern Spain.
Pope Leo XIV has officially declared his first miracle as pontiff, crediting the 2007 recovery of a dying newborn in Rhode Island to divine intervention following a physician’s desperate prayer
According to the Diocese of Almeria, Dr. Juan Sanchez, a Spanish-born physician working in a Rhode Island hospital in 2007, found himself verging on despair when he prayed to Valera Parra, the patron of his hometown
Father Valera Parra, a priest who died in Spain in 1889 and had no known miracles to his name, until now
What happened next, according to hospital staff and the Vatican, was immediate and inexplicable.
‘A few minutes after the faithful prayer, the child’s heart began to beat normally without medical intervention,’ reported WJAR-TV.
Doctors braced for the child to have severe neurological damage, but Tyquan defied every expectation.
He spoke at 18 months, walked at two years, and today, shows no sign of impairment – a living testament, the Vatican says, to the power of faith.
The miracle is especially striking because Valera Parra had never visited the United States, let alone New England.
‘The cool thing is, the more you think about the miracle itself, Father Valera lived in the 19th century. He never came to the U.S. Never came to Rhode Island,’ Rev. Reilly noted.
‘And yet… the doctor called out and called upon his name… he decided to intervene.’
The miracle declaration also makes history for Pope Leo XIV, the first American and first Peruvian citizen to lead the global Church
Pope Leo XIV greets the faithful as he leaves the church of St. Thomas of Villanova where he celebrated a Mass, at his summer residence in Castel Gandolfo, Italy, earlier this week
Born in 1816 and known as a simple diocesan priest, Valera Parra died in 1889 without fame, controversy, or claims of supernatural gifts.
But the miracle attributed to his name now places him squarely on the path to sainthood, requiring only one more confirmed miracle for canonization.
The miracle declaration also makes history for Pope Leo XIV, the first American and first Peruvian citizen to lead the global Church.
Born Robert Prevost in Chicago, Leo, 69, was elected pope on May 8, following the death of Pope Francis.
A former missionary in Peru, he later oversaw the Vatican’s powerful office of bishops before ascending to the papacy.
When he has the time, the pope picks up a tennis racquet. Pictured, Italian tennis player Jannik Sinner gave a tennis racket to Pope Leo XIV in Vatican City, in May
Pope Leo XIV was seen wearing a Chicago White Sox baseball team cap last month as he mets newly wedded couples in St Peter’s Square at the Vatican
Pope Leo, seen center, is as comfortable quoting Scripture as he is solving Wordle puzzles with his brothers, Louise, left, and John, right, back in Illinois
Known for his calm intellect, deep spirituality, and surprising relatability, Leo is as comfortable quoting Scripture as he is solving Wordle puzzles with his brother back in Illinois.
He’s also a White Sox fan and has also said he’s not giving up playing tennis anytime soon.
This week’s announcement also signals Leo XIV’s broader vision for sainthood in the modern era.
Alongside Valera Parra’s miracle, the Vatican is advancing the cause of Carlos Acutis, a British-born Millennial teen who died of leukemia in 2007 and whose body remains incorrupt in a glass tomb in Assisi, Italy.
Carlos, known for creating a website cataloging Eucharistic miracles, is on track to become the first Millennial saint.