Antonio Vicente González Suárez

Born in Agüimes, Antonio Vicente González Suárez felt the call to the priesthood at a very young age. At the age of 16, he entered the diocesan seminary of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria. He continued his studies in theology and philosophy at the University of La Laguna (Tenerife). On January 19, 1845, he was ordained a priest by Mgr Luis Folgueras y Sión, Bishop of Tenerife, in the parish church of Puerto de La Orotava (today the church of Nuestra Señora de la Peña de Francia).

Endowed with great intelligence and a remarkable talent for oratory, the young priest was entrusted with important diocesan responsibilities. He became a professor of fundamental theology, secretary, and then vice-rector of the diocesan seminary. He also served as the prosecutor (fiscal) of the Diocese of the Canary Islands.

However, it was in direct pastoral action that he revealed the full measure of his charity. Appointed first as administrator, then as the first parish priest of the parish of Santo Domingo de Guzmán in the Vegueta district of Las Palmas, he dedicated himself entirely to his parishioners. In 1847, a terrible famine struck the island of Gran Canaria. Faced with the distress of the population, Father González Suárez opened a pioneering charity center opposite his church, where he distributed food, clothing, and his own resources to the most needy.

In 1851, the island was struck by an epidemic of cholera morbus. While many inhabitants fled the city for fear of contagion, Father Antonio chose to remain with his flock. He transformed his charity center into a small makeshift hospital to welcome the dying and the sick. Acting as doctor, nurse, father, and priest all at once, he spent his days and nights at the bedside of the infected. Exhausted by work and lack of sleep, he contracted the disease in turn and died on June 22, 1851, the day after his last mass, at the age of 34.

The reputation for holiness of Antonio Vicente González Suárez, already immense during his lifetime, endured long after his death. Nicknamed "the good Canarian shepherd" by popular fervor, his memory remained alive throughout the 20th century.

The diocesan process for his beatification officially opened on January 19, 1995, within the Diocese of the Canary Islands, following the granting of the nihil obstat decree by the Congregation for the Causes of Saints on March 13, 1994. The diocesan inquiry was closed on May 19, 1998, and its legal validity was recognized by Rome on April 30, 1999. The Positio, a summary document on his life and virtues, was then submitted for examination by historians and theologians.

On December 1, 2020, the cardinals and bishops who are members of the Congregation for the Causes of Saints met in an ordinary session and recognized the heroic nature of his virtues. On December 21, 2020, Pope Francis received in audience Cardinal Marcello Semeraro, Prefect of the Congregation, and authorized the promulgation of the decree recognizing the heroic virtues of the Servant of God, thereby conferring upon him the title of Venerable.

For his beatification to be pronounced, the recognition of a miracle is required. An alleged miracle is currently under investigation by the Dicastery for the Causes of Saints. It concerns the unexplained healing, which occurred between 2005 and 2006, of a patient suffering from a fourth-degree aneurysm who had remained in a coma for two months. The diocesan inquiry into this alleged miracle was closed on June 23, 2011, and forwarded to Rome for examination by the medical committee of the Curia.

The spirituality of Antonio Vicente González Suárez is deeply Eucharistic and Marian. He drew his pastoral strength and heroic courage from the adoration of the Blessed Sacrament and manifested a particular filial devotion to the Virgin Mary, under the titles of Our Lady of the Rosary and Our Lady of Sorrows. His legacy is that of a "martyr of charity." During the Covid-19 pandemic, his figure was presented by the Bishop of the Canary Islands, Mgr. José Mazuelos, as a contemporary model, illustrating the gift of self without fear in the face of illness and pastoral solicitude towards the most vulnerable. A statue in his likeness stands today in Agüimes, his hometown, next to his birthplace, where the local community regularly pays tribute to him.