Rafael Sánchez García

Don Rafaelito served for nearly 37 years as chaplain at the San Sebastián Provincial Hospital in Badajoz. Entirely devoted to the sick and the excluded, he spent his days and nights at their bedside, distributing his own meals and provisions to them. A highly sought-after confessor and spiritual director, notably by the Poor Clare Mother Abbess Sor Celina, he was bound by a deep friendship with Father Leocadio Galán Barrena (founder of the Slaves of Mary and the Poor) and Don Luis Zambrano Blanco (founder of the Home of Nazareth), who administered the anointing of the sick to him before his death.

From his death in 1973, his reputation for holiness spread and his tomb, located in the chapel of the former Provincial Hospital of Badajoz, became a place of pilgrimage. The Archdiocese of Mérida-Badajoz opened his diocesan process for beatification on May 10, 1990, which concluded on July 3, 1992, after the hearing of numerous witnesses at the San Atón Diocesan Seminary on October 30 and 31, 1990. The file was then forwarded to Rome.

On July 8, 2016, Pope Francis authorized the promulgation of the decree recognizing the heroic nature of his virtues, conferring upon him the title of "Venerable." Although no miracle has yet been officially approved for his beatification, numerous favors are attributed to him. His cause is actively followed by the diocesan postulator, Father Gabriel Cruz.

The spirituality of Don Rafaelito is based on an intimate union with Christ, intense prayer, absolute trust in divine mercy, and profound humility. His legacy is preserved at the Don Rafael Museum in Badajoz, which houses his personal items and his hospital gown. In August 2023, for the 50th anniversary of his death, his hometown of Oliva de la Frontera installed his historic confessional and inaugurated an azulejo mural by José Manuel Gamero Gil in the church of San Marcos Evangelista. A 2.20-meter bronze statue, sculpted by the same artist, was also approved for the Plaza de San Atón in Badajoz.