PROVIDENCE, R.I. (WPRI) — Pope Leo XIV, the first pope from the United States, recently declared that a miracle happened in Rhode Island.

The official decree signed on June 20 said that a baby born in 2007 was inexplicably healed after a doctor prayed to a 19th-century Spanish priest, Father Salvador Valera Parra. The declaration was first reported by GoLocalProv.

According to a report by The Dicastery for the Causes of Saints, a boy identified only as “Tyquan” was born prematurely at Memorial Hospital in Pawtucket and was not expected to survive.

The child reportedly suffered from oxygen deprivation and other symptoms that weren’t improving.

“The fact that the baby had stopped breathing, he had not taken a breath for 65 minutes, and they kept working on him. That really kind of played out in my mind when I thought about it,” Rev. Timothy Reilly said. “They all point to the fact that this could not be explained. Something outside this world is responsible for his healing.”

The attending physician, who was Spanish and a devotee of Valera Parra, prayed for intercession. The child’s heart then began to beat with no medical intervention.

“The miracle at the former Memorial Hospital in Pawtucket in 2007 is a reminder of the power of
prayer and the intercession of holy men and women. God is indeed close to us,” the Diocese of Providence said in a statement.

“We are thrilled that this recognition will move the cause of beatification and canonization forward for Venerable Servant of God Salvador Valera Parra,” the Diocese continued.

The application for declaring it a miracle has been under consideration for years by church leaders.