The Catholic Church recognizes some deceased Catholics as saints, blesseds, venerables, and Servants of God. Some of these people were born, died, or lived their religious life in any of the territories of South America. The Catholic Church entered South America in 1500 through Brazil and quickly expanded across the continent with the Spanish and Portuguese cultures. Today this area remains heavily Catholic.
List of saints
The following is the list of saints, including the year in which they were canonized and the country or countries with which they are associated. St. Louis Bertrand (1526–1581), Dominican priest (Colombia) Beatified: 19 July 1608 by Pope Paul V Canonized: 12 April 1671 by Pope Clement X St. Rose of Lima (1586–1617), Dominican tertiary (Peru) Beatified: 15 April 1668 by Pope Clement IX Canonized: 12 April 1671 by Pope Clement X St. Turibius of Mongrovejo (1538–1606), secular Archbishop (Peru) Beatified: 2 July 1679 by Pope Innocent XI Canonized: 10 December 1726 by Pope Benedict XIII St. Francis Solanus (1549–1610), Franciscan priest (Peru) Beatified: 20 June 1675 by Pope Clement X Canonized: 27 December 1726 by Pope Benedict XIII St. Peter Claver (1580–1654), Jesuit priest (Colombia) Beatified: 21 September 1851 by Pope Pius IX Canonized: 15 January 1888 by Pope Leo XIII St. Mariana de Jesús de Paredes (1618–1645), Third Order Franciscan (Ecuador) Declared venerable: 19 March 1776 Beatified: 20 November 1853 by Pope Pius IX Canonized: 9 July 1950 by Pope Pius XII St. Martin de Porres (1579–1639), Dominican brother (Peru) Beatified: 29 October 1837 by Pope Gregory XVI Canonized: 6 May 1962 by Pope John XXIII St. John Macias (1585–1645), Dominican brother (Peru) Declared venerable: 2 February 1762 Beatified: 22 October 1837 by Pope Gregory XVI Canonized: 28 September 1975 by Pope Paul VI St. Miguel Febres Cordero (1854–1910), De La Salle brother (Ecuador) Declared venerable: 16 March 1970 Beatified: 30 October 1977 by Pope Paul VI Canonized: 21 October 1984 by Pope John Paul II St. Roque González de Santa Cruz, Juan del Castillo, and Alfonso Rodríguez Olmedo (d. 1628), Jesuits (Paraguay and Peru) Declared martyrdom: 3 December 1933 Beatified: 28 January 1934 by Pope Pius XI Canonized: 16 May 1988 by Pope John Paul II St. Ezequiel Moreno y Díaz (1848–1906), Augustinian Recollect (Colombia) Declared venerable: 1 February 1975 Beatified: 1 November 1975 by Pope Paul VI Canonized: 11 October 1992 by Pope John Paul II St. Teresa of Jesus of Los Andes (1900–1920), Discalced Carmelite (Chile) Declared venerable: 22 March 1986 Beatified: 3 April 1987 by Pope John Paul II Canonized: 21 March 1993 by Pope John Paul II St. Pauline of the Agonizing Heart of Jesus (1865–1942), (Brazil) Declared venerable: 8 February 1988 Beatified: 18 October 1991 by Pope John Paul II Canonized: 19 May 2002 by Pope John Paul II St. Peter of Saint Joseph de Betancur (1626–1667), (Colombia) Declared venerable: 25 July 1771 Beatified: 22 June 1980 by Pope John Paul II Canonized: 30 July 2002 by Pope John Paul II St. Alberto Hurtado (1901–1952), Jesuit priest (Chile) Declared venerable: 21 December 1991 Beatified: 16 October 1994 by Pope John Paul II Canonized: 23 October 2005 by Pope Benedict XVI St. Antonio of Saint Anne (1739–1822), Franciscan friar and priest (Brazil) Declared venerable: 8 March 1997 Beatified: 25 October 1998 by Pope John Paul II Canonized: 11 May 2007 by Pope Benedict XVI St. Maria Bernarda Bütler (1848–1924), Franziskaner-Missionsschwestern von Maria Hilf (Colombia and Ecuador) Declared venerable: 21 December 1991 Beatified: 29 October 1995 by Pope John Paul II Canonized: 12 October 2008 by Pope Benedict XVI St. Narcisa de Jesús (1832–1869), laywoman (Ecuador and Peru) Declared venerable: 23 October 1987 Beatified: 25 October 1992 by Pope John Paul II Canonized: 12 October 2008 by Pope Benedict XVI St. Laura of Saint Catherine of Siena (1874–1949), Missionary Sister of Mary Immaculate and St. Catherine of Siena (Colombia) Declared venerable: 22 January 1991 Beatified: 25 April 2004 by Pope John Paul II Canonized: 12 May 2013 by Pope Francis St. José de Anchieta (1534–1597), Jesuit priest (Brazil) Declared venerable: 10 August 1786 Beatified: 22 June 1980 by Pope John Paul II Canonized: 3 April 2014 by Pope Francis St. André de Soveral and companions (d. 1645), priests and laypersons, martyrs (Brazil) Declared venerable: 21 December 1998 Beatified: 5 March 2000 by Pope John Paul II Canonized: 15 October 2017 by Pope Francis St. Nazaria Ignacia March Mesa (1889–1943), religious (Bolivia) Declared venerable: 1 September 1988 Beatified: 27 September 1992 by Pope John Paul II Canonized: 14 October 2018 by Pope Francis St. Dulce de Souza Lopes Pontes (1914–1992), Missionary Sister of the Immaculate Conception (Brazil) Declared venerable: 3 April 2009 Beatified: 22 May 2011 by Cardinal Geraldo Majella Agnelo Canonized: 13 October 2019 by Pope Francis St. Francesca Maria Rubatto (1844–1904), Capuchin Sister of Mother Rubatto (Uruguay) Declared venerable: 1 September 1988 Beatified: 10 October 1993 by Pope John Paul II Canonized: 15 May 2022 by Pope Francis St. Carmen Elena Rendiles Martínez, María Carmen (1903–1977), foundress, Servants of Jesus of Caracas (Venezuela) Declared Venerable: 5 July 2013 Beatified: 16 June 2018 by Cardinal Angelo Amato Canonized: 19 October 2025 by Pope Leo XIV St. José Gregorio Hernandez Cisneros (1864–1919), layman (Venezuela) Declared Venerable: 16 January 1986 Beatified: 30 April 2021 by Archbishop Aldo Giordano Canonized: 19 October 2025 by Pope Leo XIV
List of blesseds Bl. Peter Donders (1809–1887), Redemptorist priest (Suriname) Declared Venerable: 25 March 1945 Beatified: 23 May 1982 by Pope John Paul II Bl. Mercedes de Jesús Molina (1828–1883), foundress, Marianitas Sisters (Ecuador) Declared Venerable: 27 November 1981 Beatified: 1 February 1985 by Pope John Paul II Bl. Ana de los Angeles Monteagudo (1602–1686), Dominican nun (Peru) Declared Venerable: 23 May 1975 Beatified: 2 February 1985 by Pope John Paul II Bl. Laura Vicuña (1891–1904), child (Chile) Declared Venerable: 5 June 1986 Beatified: 3 September 1988 by Pope John Paul II Bl. Arturo Ayala Niño and 6 (Rubén de Jesús López Aguilar, José Velázquez Peláez, Alfonso Antonio Ramírez Salazar, Gabriel Maya Gutiérrez, Ramón Ramírez Zuluoga, Luis Modesto Páez Perdomo) Hospitallers of Saint John of God and martyrs in Spain (d. 1936) (Colombia) Declared Martyrdom: 14 May 1991 Beatified: 25 October 1992 by Pope John Paul II Bl. Laura Evangelista Alvarado Cardozo, María of Saint Joseph (1875–1967), Recollect nun (Venezuela) Declared Venerable: 7 March 1992 Beatified: 7 May 1995 by Pope John Paul II Bl. Maria Vicenta Rosal (1815–1886), religious, Bethlemite Sisters, Daughters of the Sacred Heart of Jesus (Colombia and Ecuador) Declared Venerable: 6 April 1995 Beatified: 4 May 1997 by Pope John Paul II Bl. Mariano de Jesús Euse Hoyos (1845–1926), diocesan priest (Colombia) Declared Venerable: 3 March 1990 Beatified: 9 April 2000 by Pope John Paul II Bb. Maria of Jesus, Consuelo Aguiar-Mella Diaz and Maria Dolores Aguiar-Mella Diaz, Escolapia sister and two laywomen, Martyrs in Spain (d. 1936) (Uruguay) Declared Martyrdom: 28 June 1999 Beatified: 11 March 2001 by Pope John Paul II Bl. Luigi Tezza (1841–1923), Camillian priest (Peru) Declared Venerable: 24 April 2001 Beatified: 4 November 2001 by Pope John Paul II Bl. Luigi Variara (Luis Variara Bussa) (1875–1923), Salesian priest (Colombia) Declared Venerable: 2 April 1993 Beatified: 14 April 2002 by Pope John Paul II Bl. Maria Josefa Karolina Brader (1860–1943), foundress, Franciscan Sisters of Mary Immaculate (Colombia and Ecuador) Declared Venerable: 28 June 1999 Beatified: 23 March 2003 by Pope John Paul II Bl. Candlemas (Candelaria) of San José (Saint Joseph), [Susana Paz-Castillo Ramírez], (1863–1940), foundress, Hermanas Carmelitas de Madre Candelaria (Venezuela) Declared Venerable: 19 April 2004 Beatified: 27 April 2008 by Cardinal José Saraiva Martins Bl. María Angélica Pérez (1897–1932), religious, Daughters of Our Lady of the Garden (Chile) Declared Venerable: 22 June 2004 Beatified: 17 November 2012 by Cardinal Angelo Amato Bl. Maria Troncatti (1883–1969), Salesian sister (Ecuador) Declared Venerable: 12 November 2008 Beatified: 24 November 2012 by Cardinal Angelo Amato Bl. Jesus Anibal Gomez y Gomez (1913–1936), Claretian and martyr in Spain (Colombia) Declared Martyrdom: 1 July 2010 Beatified: 13 October 2013 by Cardinal Angelo Amato The Three Martyrs of Chimbote (Peru) Michał Tomaszek (1960–1991), priest of Chimbote (Peru) Zbigniew Adam Strzałkowski (1958–1991), priest of Chimbote (Peru) Alessandro Dordi (1931–1991), priest of Chimbote (Peru) Declared Martyrdom: 3 February 2015 Beatified: 5 December 2015 by Cardinal Angelo Amato Bl. Jesús Emilio Jaramillo Monsalve (1916–1989), religious priest of the Xaverian Missionaries of Yarumal and martyr (Colombia), Bishop of Arauca Declared Martyrdom: 7 July 2017 Beatified: 8 September 2017 by Pope Francis Bl. Pedro María Ramírez Ramos (1899–1948), diocesan priest and martyr (Colombia) Declared Martyrdom: 7 July 2017 Beatified: 8 September 2017 by Pope Francis Bl. María Guggiari Echeverría (1925–1959), Discalced Carmelite (Paraguay) Declared Venerable: 27 March 2010 Beatified: 23 June 2018 by Cardinal Angelo Amato Bl. Victor Emilio Moscoso Cárdenas (1846–1897), Jesuit (Ecuador) Declared Martyrdom: 12 February 2019 Beatified: 16 November 2019 by Cardinal Giovanni Angelo Becciu Bl. Antonia Luzmila Rivas López (María Augustina) (1920-1990), religious sister of the Religious of the Good Shepherd; Martyr (Peru) Declared Martyr: 22 May 2021 Beatified: 7 May 2022 by Cardinal Baltazar Enrique Porras Cardozo Bl. Maria Berenice Duque Hencker (1898–1993), foundress of the Little Sisters of the Annunciation, (Colombia) Declared Venerable: 12 February 2019 Beatified: 29 October 2022 by Cardinal Marcello Semeraro Bl. Jacinto Vera (1813–1881), Bishop of Montevideo (Uruguay) Declared Venerable: 5 May 2015 Beatified: 6 May 2023 by Cardinal Paulo Cezar Costa
List of venerables Ven. Francisco Camacho (1629–1698), Hospitaller of Saint John of God (Peru) Declared Venerable: 1 January 1881 Ven. Pedro Urraca (1583–1657), Mercedarian priest (Peru and Ecuador) Declared Venerable: 31 January 1981 Ven. Dorotea de Chopitea (1816–1891), lay Salesian (Chile) Declared Venerable: 9 June 1983 Ven. Mariano Avellana Lasierra (1844–1904), Claretian priest (Chile) Declared Venerable: 23 October 1987 Ven. Vicente Albistur (1562–1619), Dominican priest (Bolivia) Declared Venerable: 22 January 1991 Ven. Emilia de San Jose Chapellin Istúriz (1858–1893), foundress, Little Sisters of the Poor of Maiquetía (Venezuela) Declared Venerable: 23 December 1993 Ven. Isabel Tejada Cuartas (1887–1925), religious, Missionary Sisters of Mary Immaculate and Saint Catherine of Siena (Colombia) Declared Venerable: 26 March 1994 Ven. Julio Matovelle (1852–1929), secular priest and founder, Missionary Oblates of Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary (Ecuador and Venezuela) Declared Venerable: 26 March 1994 Ven. Teresa of the Cross Alvarez-Calderon (1875–1953), foundress, Canonesses of the Cross (Peru) Declared Venerable: 3 April 2009 Ven. Luisa Marcelina de San Jose Aveledo y Aveledo (1874–1959), foundress, Sisters of the Poor of Saint Peter Claver (Colombia and Venezuela) Declared Venerable: 20 December 2012 Ven. Rosa Elena Cornejo Pazmiño (1874–1964), founderess, Franciscan Missionaries of the Immaculata (Ecuador) Declared Venerable: 20 December 2012 Ven. Clemens Fuhl (1874–1935), Augustinian priest (Bolivia) Declared Venerable: 9 December 2013 Ven. Francisco Valdés Subercaseaux (1908–1982), Capuchin Bishop (Chile) Declared Venerable: 7 November 2014 Ven. Virginia Blanco Tardío (1916–1990), laywoman (Bolivia) Declared Venerable: 22 January 2015