San Cayetano unpublished: the celebration was on YouTube and with very few faithful who also approached the sanctuary

08/07/2020 - 12:34

• Clarín.com
• Society

A row of City policemen stationed themselves in front of the entrance to the Sanctuary of San Cayetano, in Liniers. It is the first time in history that the central mass in honor of the patron saint of bread and work is celebrated behind closed doors.  But still, and despite the rain, there were faithful who came. "I have come every August 7 forty years ago to ask for bread and work, since I arrived from Bolivia, and this year more than ever," says Jaime, holding an ear of wheat in front of the bars of the church. He is one of 12 truck drivers who still keep the job at his company: there were 87.

The temple did not open to the public this August 7. The celebrations were broadcast virtually on YouTube . The main one was headed, as is customary, by Cardinal Mario Poli, archbishop of Buenos Aires.

"We will ask especially for these more than 7 million poor girls and boys , with these levels of destitution that embarrass and humiliate us," said the priest, referring to the UNICEF report that warned that child poverty will reach 63 percent of children in Argentina, and added: "But that we should not be scandalized, because scandalizing us is useless. Let us strike our hearts , because we know that in indigence survival becomes difficult and leaves a mark, which not infrequently marks the whole life".

"They are today the true treasure of the Nation, not in numbers. They are people and they suffer. And there is pain and tears. And as the Gospel we proclaim teaches, it is there where they have their treasure that they will also have their hearts. It is the promising childhood who hopes that it will be legislated for life and never for death, for the death of anyone, "Poli continued, in a clear reference to the legal abortion bill.

Unpublished celebration of San Cayetano. A few faithful also approached the sanctuary. Photo: Guillermo Rodríguez Adami

"I have come to ask San Cayetanito for the health of my lady who was admitted to intensive care forty days ago by Covid. Yesterday the medical officer told me that she fell back on her health. She also tested positive for me but I did not have to be admitted. I came also for work for me and all my colleagues. This pandemic hurts a lot to us who are construction workers. I always come to ask him and I have work, "said José Rafael Anaua (49), who lives in Villa Soldati and despite the Rain since there would be no face-to-face celebration, went to Liners.

The pandemic alienated the faithful and also damaged the santerías in the area. Inside the sanctuary, while Poli conducted the ceremony, the wooden benches looked completely empty. The cameras of television cameras and those responsible for streaming transmission stood out.

This time, the faithful could not leave their requests in the notebook that receives them in the sanctuary either. They had to do it through the YouTube channel that transmitted the mass.

Unpublished celebration of San Cayetano. A few faithful also approached the sanctuary. Photo: Guillermo Rodríguez Adami

At the back of the sanctuary, on the General Paz, popular movements set up a tent. There are members of the Evita Movement, the Classist and Combative Current, Barrios de pie, MTE and the popular front Darío Santillán, among others.

"Every year we came to collaborate in the queue. We are a voluntary organization of paramedics and nurses. I am privileged to be here. I asked for my family and for the entire Argentine people. Thousands would like to be here. I am a first aid instructor. Today we have to take the temperature and disinfect those who enter and the area, "says Andres López, who despite his white safety suit kneels to pray. And he adds: "We were on Thursday from 18 to 2 and today. I feel sorry because the saint would have to party, but as our bishop said, today the saint is going out to each other's house."

SC