The next thing you know, Gov. Maura Healey will be blessing crowds from the governor’s balcony of the State House.

It would be like the Pope where thousands come seeking his blessing from his balcony at the Vatican in Rome.

Only in Healey’s case the crowds out on Beacon Street could be greater than those at St. Peter’s Square, given how politics has replaced religion among Democrats in Massachusetts and the United States. Just call her St. Maura.

The thought of conducting such an act of benediction arose after Healey bestowed her blessings and rosary beads on Marcelo Gomes da Silva last week, practically making her the patron saint of illegal immigrants.

She did so during as an hour-long emotional meeting at Healey’s State House office where “the two discussed their love for Massachusetts and the US Constitution,” among other things, according to the Boston Globe.

Marcelo is the 18-year-old Brazilian native who was scooped up and detained by ICE agents who were searching for his illegal immigrant father. He was released on June 5 after spending six days in detention, and after a swell of support from fellow Milford High School students, townies and illegal immigrant cheerleaders.

Healey is not, of course, a real saint in the religious tradition and beliefs of Roman Catholics like Mother Teresa or Joan of Arc.

But the Globe’s gushing coverage of the rosary ceremony all but declared Healey a secular saint.

Not every governor hands out rosary beads, especial rosary beads blessed by the late Pope Francis. As a governor of firsts — the first gay woman governor of Massachusetts— she is also the first chief executive to hand out rosary beads.

This is different from past governors who handed guests Paul Revere Bowls, judgeships, pardons and no-show jobs at the MBTA.

“I think that Pope Frances would want you to have them,” St. Maura said when she handed Marcelo a case holding the beads.

“He blessed them?” Marcelo asked.

“Yes, it came right from him,” she replied.

“Holy moly,” Marcelo said.

Climate change, like Catholicism, is a religion, too. And while it has a lot of saints, it does not have a Pope, at least not yet.

Saint Maura, a pro-abortion cafeteria Catholic, has set a new precedent.

Succeeding governors may have to trek to Rome to stock up on rosary beads to give out as religious, humanitarian, public relations or even (God forbid) political gestures.

Even the late Republican Gov. John A. Volpe, (1961-1963, 1965-1969) who was a staunch Catholic, a regular Mass attendee and a Vatican favorite, never handed out rosary beads when he was governor.

And he had a lot of them. Volpe was a Knight of Malta, a Knight Commander of the Order of the Holy Sepulchre, established in 1099, and the U.S. Ambassador to Italy in 1973 who visited the Pope regularly.

Maybe it was not allowed, or maybe he did not think of it.

Or maybe he wasn’t a saint like you know who.

Veteran political reporter Peter Lucas can be reached at: peter.lucas@bostonherald.com

Gov. Maura Healey greets Pope Francis during her visit to the Vatican in 2024.