The doctor at the heart of Pope Leo XIV’s first officially recognized miracle has broken his silence.
Dr. Juan Sánchez-Esteban expressed profound astonishment following the Vatican’s recognition of the miraculous recovery of a newborn in Rhode Island in 2007, which they attributed to divine intervention.
The physician, originally from Spain, had fervently prayed while attending to the infant, Tyquan Hall, at Memorial Hospital in Pawtucket, after the baby was declared deceased.
The Dicastery for the Causes of Saints reported that the baby was in critical condition at birth, following an emergency labor initiated due to a dangerously low fetal heart rate.
Following delivery, the infant failed to respond to standard neonatal resuscitation efforts. After nearly an hour of interventions, his heart had stopped completely.
It was in that desperate moment Sánchez-Esteban turned not to medicine, but to his faith. In a carefully worded statement to DailyMail.com the doctor avoided any direct mention of the child or the miracle, but its timing and reverent tone speak volumes.
‘As a physician, I have the privilege of witnessing both the fragility and the incredible resilience of life,’ Sánchez-Esteban said on Saturday in a written statement.
‘While I cannot speak about any individual patient due to HIPAA privacy laws, I understand that a recent recognition by the Vatican has brought comfort and meaning to many.
‘At Care New England and Women & Infants Hospital, we are honored to be part of the stories that inspire hope,’ the doctor continued, ‘and we remain committed to providing care grounded in compassion, excellence, and respect for every individual and their beliefs.’
Spanish-born physician Dr. Juan Sánchez-Esteban, the doctor at the heart of Pope Leo XIV’s first officially recognized miracle has broken his silence after the Vatican attributed the inexplicable 2007 recovery of a newborn in Rhode Island to divine intervention
The remarks came just 24 hours after the Vatican confirmed it had officially authenticated its first miracle under Pope Leo XIV – and also the first miracle ever formally recognized in the state of Rhode Island
According to the Diocese of Almeria, Dr. Sanchez, was working in the hospital in 2007, and found himself verging on despair when he prayed to Valera Parra, the patron of his hometown
The remarks came just hours after the Vatican confirmed it had officially authenticated its first miracle under Pope Leo XIV – and also the first miracle ever formally recognized in the state of Rhode Island.
‘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 newly canonized event is also being referred to by some as the Miracle at Memorial Hospital.
‘The cool thing is, the more you think about the miracle itself, Father Valera lived in the 19th century. He never came to the US. Never came to Rhode Island,’ Rev. Reilly noted.
‘And yet… the doctor called out and called upon his name… he decided to intervene. This is a blessing not just for Rhode Island, but for the Church,’ said Rev. Reilly added.
‘This recognition moves Fr. Valera closer to sainthood and reminds us that miracles are not relics of the past.’
In an interview with Spanish Catholic outlet Vida Nueva, the doctor recalled whispering a childhood prayer from his hometown in southern Spain: ‘Fr. Valera, I have done everything I can. Now it’s your turn.’
The ‘Fr. Valera’ he invoked was Salvador Valera Parra, a 19th-century Spanish priest from Huércal-Overa who had never been to the United States, let alone Rhode Island.
Known in Andalusia for his work with the sick during a devastating cholera epidemic, Valera had never had a miracle attributed to him – until now.
Father Valera Parra, a priest who died in Spain in 1889 and had no known miracles to his name, until now
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 celebrates Sunday Mass last week at the Parish of St. Thomas of Villanova in Castel Gandolfo in Albano Laziale, Italy. Pope Leo XIV will resume using the Papal Palace of Castel Gandolfo for the next five weeks of the summer
Pope Leo XIV greets the faithful upon his arrival to celebrate Mass inside the Church of St. Thomas of Villanova in Castel Gandolfo Pope Leone XIV during his summer holidays in Castel Gandolfo
Within minutes of the prayer, a nurse reported that the baby’s heart had inexplicably begun to beat again.
The Vatican noted that the child, who had been transferred to Women & Infants Hospital with brain damage caused by oxygen deprivation, began to show unexpected signs of neurological recovery.
Within 15 days, doctors noted a sharp turnaround. The baby began breathing independently and over time, developed normally.
Today, Tyquan Hall is reportedly living a full life, playing sports, and showing no signs of the catastrophic brain injury that doctors had once feared would leave him permanently disabled.
He spoke at 18 months, walked at two years, and shows no sign of impairment – a living testament, the Vatican says, to the power of faith.
Pope Leo is seen as a particularly modern Pope with plenty of followers to support him
Pope Leo, seen center, is as comfortable quoting Scripture as he is solving Wordle puzzles with his brothers, Louis, left, and John, right, back in Illinois
The miracle is the first ever declared under Pope Leo XIV – born Robert Prevost in Chicago – and the first ever to occur in Rhode Island, a state with deep Catholic roots but no previously confirmed Vatican-approved ‘act of God’-like events.
In a decree issued on June 20, the Vatican also recognized 174 new martyrs, many killed under 20th-century authoritarian regimes, alongside Tyquan’s healing, reports GoLocalProv.com.
The declaration may also help fast-track the sainthood of Valera Parra, who now requires only one more authenticated miracle to be canonized.
Ironically, while Valera’s name soars toward sainthood, the place where his miracle occurred lies in ruins.
Memorial Hospital, once a cornerstone of Rhode Island healthcare, shut its doors in 2018 amid financial turmoil.
Pope Leo XIV was seen wearing a Chicago White Sox baseball team cap last month as he met newly wedded couples in St Peter’s Square at the Vatican
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
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.
For Pope Leo XIV, a tennis-playing, Wordle-solving former missionary known for his intellectual warmth and Midwestern charm, the miracle signals a papacy eager to modernize the process of canonization without diluting its sanctity.
Alongside Valera, the pope is also championing the cause of Carlo Acutis, a British-born Millennial tech whiz who died in 2007 and whose incorrupt body now lies in a glass tomb in Assisi.
Carlos, known for creating a website cataloging Eucharistic miracles, is on track to become the first Millennial saint.
If canonized, Acutis would become the first saint of the digital age.
