Tulio Ramírez Padilla, a Venezuelan Roman Catholic bishop who had served as bishop of Guarenas since 2020, died on August 12, 2026, at 66, L’Osservatore Romano reported.
Ordained in 1984, Ramírez served in parish, teaching and diocesan roles before becoming auxiliary bishop of Caracas in 2012, assisting the archbishop.
From 2015 to 2020, he was a vice-postulator for Venezuelan physician José Gregorio Hernández’s beatification cause. In that role, he helped gather and present evidence for the church process of formally recognizing someone as blessed. He helped collect 2,461 testimonies from Venezuela and other countries. The accounts described claimed favors or healings, not confirmed miracles. He also helped organize devotional outreach that included the distribution of more than 7 million devotional cards and three pilgrim walks. On January 9, 2020, a Vatican medical panel reviewed a reported healing, and further church reviews were still pending.
Pope Francis appointed him bishop of Guarenas in December 2020, moving him from assisting the archbishop of Caracas to leading his own diocese. In that role, Ramírez read a short biography of Hernández at the April 30, 2021, beatification rite alongside the official who led the case.
