New saint to be canonized by Catholic Church after Los Angeles area priest experiences "miracle" recovery from Achilles injury

The Catholic Church is set to canonize a new saint after a Baldwin Park priest experienced what is being called a miracle recovery from a torn Achilles tendon back in 2017. 

Juan Manuel Gutierreaz, 38, was playing basketball at St. John's Seminary in Camarillo at the time when he hurt his ankle. With the injury seeming to worsen over the next few days, he visited a doctor and was diagnosed with a torn Achilles, according to Angelus News, a magazine published by the Archdiocese of Los Angeles. 

With a long journey of recovery ahead, Gutierrez decided to do a "novena" — a set of nine prayers offered for nine days straight — and offering prayers to Blessed Pier Giorgio Frassati, an Italian journalist who died of polio at 24 years old in 1925. He was beatified by Pope John Paul II in 1987 for his charity, devotion to the Catholic church and drive to help with social reform in Italy. 

Shortly after Gutierrez began his daily prayers, he says that he began to feel "a warmth around the area of my injury," said the Angelus News. 

"It was gentle," he told the magazine. "But it would increase little by little, and at some point I thought that an outlet of the electrical was catching fire. And there was no fire there. So I just remember looking at my ankle and thinking, 'That's so strange' because I could feel the warmth."

Because of this, Gutierrez opted to stop wearing the brace he was using to keep his foot immobilized, and at another visit with an orthopedic surgeon he was surprised to learn that the gap shown on his MRI where the tendon had torn was mysteriously gone. 

"You must have somebody up there looking after you," the surgeon said, according to Gutierrez, when he could not feel the gap.

Not wanting to draw much attention to himself, Gutierrez decided to only tell some people close to him. He eventually decided to send an email after happening upon a booth featuring a photo of Frassati, which had cards asking people to send stories of favors that they received through his intercession, according to the magazine. 

He never received a response to that email, he said. 

Years later, in 2020, he was taking a class at St. John the Baptist in Baldwin Park about the diocesan phase of canonization causes taught by Monsignor Robert Sarno, an American priest who just retired after four decades at the Vatican's Dicastery of the Cause of the Saints, the Angelus News story detailed. 

"It was the last thing that I expected, that in this course that I was teaching in the Archdiocese of Los Angeles, there could be a potential miracle for canonization of Blessed Pier Giorgio Frassati," Sarno told the magazine. 

Upon learning the story, the Vatican reportedly expressed interest, which lead Archbishop Jose H. Gomez of Los Angeles to authorize Sarno's investigation into the matter. Two local priests were selected to help with the judicial process and in 2023, Sarno gathered evidence and interviewed witnesses at St. John's, the seminary where Gutierrez was injured. He also gathered doctor's notes and the MRI scan that showed the tendon tear. 

The Vatican announced that Frassati would be canonized during the 2025 Jubilee Year celebration for young people on Aug. 3. Just five days later, Pope Francis formally approved Gutierrez's story, the second miracle by Frassati's intercession. 

"I think Pier Giorgio was a great role model for what it is to be a young Catholic in the world. Someone who takes ownership of our Catholic identity, someone who is involved in the lived experience of the faith, not only in the walls of your church, but even beyond that," Gutierrez told the Angelus News. "He was known to have a heart for the needy and the poor. Maybe it wasn't a big deal at the moment, but in my time of need, he drew near to me and he helped me. And there are a lot of people who have received graces from him, I'm not the only one."

During a press conference on Monday, Gutierrez was joined by Archbishop Gomez and Msgr. Sarno. 

"Today we gather to share news that reminds us that prayer works, the saints can help us to pray for our needs and that there is somebody listening to our prayers. God is always listening to our prayers," Gutierrez said.