The Vatican Dicastery for the Causes of Saints has made an announcement regarding the naming ceremonies of the Servants of God Bishop Mathew Makil, Bishop Alessandro Labaca Ugarte, and the Servant of God Sr. C. Agnes Arango Velásquez. Following the approval of Pope Leo XIV, Cardinal Marcello Semeraro, the Prefect of the Dicastery, published the decree related to this on Thursday, May 22.
The Holy See has recognized the heroic virtues of the Servant of God, Bishop Matthew Makil, who served as the Vicar General for the southern faithful in the Kottayam Vicariate starting in 1889, then as the Vicar Apostolic of Changanacherry from 1896, and later in 1911 became the first native Apostolic Vicar of Kottayam, established for the Knanaya Catholics. Bishop Matthew Makil, who is also the founder of the Visitation Congregation of Sisters in the Archdiocese of Kottayam, was born on March 27, 1851, in Manjoor near Kottayam and passed away in Kottayam on January 26, 1914.
The Holy See also recognized the dedicated life of the Servant of God Bishop Alessandro Labaca Ugarte, born as Manuel in Beizama, Spain, on April 19, 1920. He passed away on July 21, 1987, in the region of Tigüino in Ecuador. A member of the Capuchin order, he served as the local bishop of Puyo and as the Apostolic Vicar of Aguarico.
The life of dedication of the Servant of God Sr. C. Agnes Arango Velásquez, born Maria Nieves de Medellín on April 6, 1937, in Medellín, Colombia, has also been recognized by the Vatican. A member of the Congregation of the Capuchin Tertiary Sisters of the Holy Family, she too passed away on July 21, 1987, in Tigüino, Ecuador.
This announcement marks one of the steps that lead to the canonization of Servants of God as Saints. Typically, a person declared a Servant of God is later elevated to the status of Blessed, followed by being declared Venerable, and finally canonized as a Saint.