Francisco Valdés Subercaseaux Padre Pancho

Maximiano Valdés Subercaseaux (23 September 1908 – 4 January 1982) - in religious Francisco - was a Chilean Roman Catholic prelate who was a professed member from the Order of Friars Minor Capuchin and served as the first Bishop of Osorno from 1956 until his death. Valdés discerned his call to the priesthood while with his parents in Europe and was ordained as a priest in Venice after completing his studies in Rome but continued further formation amongst the Franciscans in Europe before making his return to Chile. He was the first Chilean to have become a Capuchin friar. Valdés dedicated his episcopal career to the poor and he often visited the poor regions around his diocese while remaining a staunch advocate for a peaceful resolution to the Chile-Argentina border disputes; his last words also contained a desire for there to be peace between the two feuding nations.

Life Education and priesthood Maximiano María Antonio Miguel Valdés Subercaseaux was born on 23 September 1908 in San Miguel in the Santiago Province as the second of five children to Horacio Valdés Ortúzar, an engineer, and Blanca Subercaseaux de Valdés , a writer and artist. His parents were married on 12 September 1906 and were devout Christians. Valdés attended all sessions of the Second Vatican Council from 11 October 1962 to 8 December 1965 as a Council Father. He was an ardent supporter and staunch advocate for dialogue and peace between Chile and Argentina in their border dispute and made repeated calls for fraternal negotiations aimed at ensuring better cooperation and coexistence between the two nations. The cause culminated on 7 November 2014 after Pope Francis confirmed that Valdés lived a model life of heroic virtue and named him as Venerable.

The current postulator for this cause is the Franciscan priest Carlo Calloni.

Failed miracle His beatification depended on a miracle being approved and one such case had been investigated in the diocese of its origin; the C.C.S. later validated this in Rome on 16 November 2007 but could not investigate it further until Valdés had been proclaimed Venerable as was the requirement. The medical experts advising the C.C.S. met on 21 May 2015 to determine if the healing was a miracle but found it was not a miracle due to a scientific explanation being evident for such a healing.