One mark of honour to his labours is that this Order has been officially entrusted with the medical care of the pope. When John of God died the successor of the Order was Pedro Soriano. Veneration John of God died on March 8, 1550, his 55th birthday, in Granada. He died of pneumonia after he had plunged into a river to save a young man from drowning. His body was initially buried in the Church of Our Lady of the Victories, belonging to the Minim friars, and remained there until November 28, 1664, when the Hospitaller Brothers had his relics moved to the church of their hospital in the city, John was canonized by Pope Alexander VIII on October 16, 1690, and later named the patron saint of hospitals and the sick. His feast day is celebrated on March 8. A church was erected in 1757 to house his remains. On October 26, 1757, they were transferred to that church, now protected by the Knights of Saint John of God. The church has been raised to the rank of a basilica. In the Ukrainian Lutheran Church, a Byzantine Rite Lutheran Church, John of God is commemorated in the calendar of saints on 26 November. Legacy The Order maintains a presence in 53 countries, operating more than 300 hospitals, services, and centers serving a range of medical needs in addition to mental health and psychiatry. The Family of Saint John of God, as those who commit to his vision are called, is made up of more than 45,000 members, Brothers and Co-workers, and supported by tens of thousands of benefactors and friends who identify with and support the work of the Order for sick and needy people across the world. See also St John of God Health Care Saint John of God, patron saint archive References External links Founder Statue in St Peter's Basilica Order of Knights of Saint John of God St. John of God Hospital Sierra Leone St. John of God in The Netherlands Letter of St. John of God posted on Vatican website 1495 births 1550 deaths People from Montemor-o-Novo 16th-century soldiers Male nurses Angelic visionaries 15th-century Portuguese people 16th-century Portuguese people 16th-century Spanish people Founders of Catholic religious communities 15th-century Christian saints 16th-century Christian saints Knights Hospitaller saints Portuguese Roman Catholic saints Canonizations by Pope Alexander VIII Spanish Roman Catholic saints Beatifications by Pope Urban VIII