On a religious day with unexpected political overtones, this Sunday the Pope declared María Antonia de San José de Paz y Figueroa a saint, known as Mama Antula (Mamá Antonia) by the Quechua Indians she cared for and whose language she spoke.
She is the first saint of Argentina, she lived between 1730 and 1799 and Bergoglio said that she was “a model of
apostolic fervor and audacity
.”
It was in St. Peter's Basilica in the Vatican, attended by hundreds of Argentine pilgrims, at 9:45 in the morning (5:45 in our country).
“In honor of the Holy and individual Trinity, for the exaltation of the Catholic Faith and the increase of Christian life, with the authority of our Lord Jesus Christ, of the Holy Apostles Peter and Paul and Our, after having reflected at length, invoked many times divine help and listening to the opinion of numerous brothers of the Episcopate, we declare and define blessed María Antonia de San José de Paz y Figueroa as a saint and
we inscribe her in the Catalog of Saints
, establishing that she be devoutly honored throughout the Church among the saints,” the pontiff proclaimed.
The Eucharistic celebration of
more than two hours
was attended by thousands of people and
the one who most focused
everyone's attention was the Argentine president
Javier Milei
, who briefly greeted the Pope in the sacristy.
This Monday morning, Milei will be received in audience by Francisco.
In the homily the Pope highlighted that Mama Antula “walked thousands of kilometers on foot through deserts and dangerous streets.”
He highlighted the work of the new saint “for a
life worthy of poverty
through work, justice and daily bread.”
The Pope lamented “how many suffering people” are found on “the sidewalks of our cities.”
Francis especially denounced what he called "the leprosy of the soul, a disease that makes us
insensitive to love
, to compassion that destroys us through the gangrene of selfishness, prejudice, indifference and intolerance."
He attended the ceremony and greeted Pope Claudio Perusini, who was saved from an ischemic stroke with hemorrhagic infarction in Santa Fe thanks to the intercession of Mama Antula through the prayers of Perusini's relatives and friends.
A special medical board of Vatican professionals ruled that
there was no medical explanation
for the recognition of Mama Antula's miracle, which took her from beatitude to sainthood, proclaimed this Sunday.
Pope Francis announced that Mama Antuna is a saint.
AFP Photo / Filippo Monteforte
In the
official biography that was read at the ceremony
, it was recalled that he was born in 1730 in a territory that was then part of Tucumán and today, Santiago del Estero.
“There is little information about his childhood and youth,” the biography added.
The Pope had recalled that he walked barefoot thousands of kilometers in Argentina to help open
Jesuit spiritual exercise houses
.
In Buenos Aires, where he arrived after
two months of walking from Córdoba
, he managed, after many disappointments, to open an exercise house that exists to this day.
She fell ill, she made a will and died on March 6, 1799. It is estimated that in the last eight years of activity she organized spiritual exercises for more than 70 thousand people.
“She had suffered persecution because
she had clashed with the political and ecclesiastical authorities
of the time after the expulsion of the Jesuits from the territory of the viceroyalty,” concluded the official biography read at the ceremony.
His remains currently rest in the church of Nuestra Señora de la Piedad, in the center of Buenos Aires.
Javier Milei, his sister Karina and the Minister of the Interior Guillermo Francos, cross themselves at the ceremony.
Photo Remo Casilli / Reuters
After concluding the celebration, the Pope went to the neighboring Apostolic Palace and after reciting the Sunday Angelus to the crowd gathered in St. Peter's Square, he announced the proclamation of Mama Antula.
He asked and received from the crowd
“a round of applause for the new saint
. ”
Milei at the canonization ceremony of Mama Antula
At the conclusion of the canonization of the Argentine saint in the basilica, President Milei said goodbye to the Pope and there was a great surprise. The Pope approached him to say goodbye sitting in the wheelchair that he uses to get around due to the problems he suffers in one of his knees.
The Argentine president approached and they shook hands.
Then
Milei and the Pope hugged each other
.
Javier Milei prays at the canonization of Mama Antula.
Photo Alessandra Tarantino / AP
Milei looked excited
.
He had followed the ceremony sitting in the front row accompanied by his entourage.
The North American agency Associated Press wrote that he “seemed very attentive to the mass, he made
the sign of the cross several times
, received communion and rested his head in his hands while
praying on his knees.
”
Vatican. Correspondent
D.S.