“I am pleased to announce the closing of the diocesan phase of the cause of beatification of the great hero of mercy, Doctor Fedor Petrovich Haas” (1780-1853). In a short message, the Archbishop of Moscow, Mgr. Paolo Pezzi, announced on the website of the archdiocese the conclusion of the first phase of the process, which was opened on 9 January 2016. The conclusion of this “diocesan phase of the beatification process concerning the life and heroic virtues of the Servant of God Friedrich Joseph Haas, called the holy doctor of Moscow”, will be celebrated with a “solemn ceremony during the Sunday Mass on 6 May, at 10.00, in the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary in Moscow”. Mr Haas was born in Germany to a Catholic family. He graduated in medicine in Vienna, and in 1806 he moved to Moscow where he became chief prison hospital doctor in 1829. His loving and conscientious nature inspired him to fight for the recognition of the dignity and the right to adequate medical care of those prisoners and criminals deported to Siberia. He himself would treat everyone, beyond every religious and social barrier. Mr Haas is buried at the Vvedenskoe Cemetery in Moscow.