MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Pope confirms Patagonian Mapuche native en route to beatification

Ceferino Namuncurá

Pope Benedict XVI signed last week a decree declaring the upcoming beatification of an Argentine Mapuche native from Patagonia. Ceferino Namuncurá, son of a native chieftain and student of the Salesian order of priests was born in the province of Rio Negro August 26, 1886 and died at Rome on November 11, 1905.

Now known as a "Servant of God", Namuncurá's beatification will be officially announced on November 11 in his native city in Patagonia. He will be the first Native American born in Argentina to be declared one of the Church's "blessed" or "beati". The pontiff received in private audience Cardinal José Saraiva Martins, who serves as the prefect of the Congregation for the Cause of Sainthood. During the interview, the pope authorized a series of decrees and among them was the cause of Namuncurá's beatification, which came about after a miracle was attributed to his intervention. A miracle attributed to Namuncurá's intervention came about in 2000 when the family of a 24-year-old woman suffering from uterine cancer appeared to be instantly cured after her family had asked for the deceased Patagonian's intervention before God. The woman was cured and has since been able to conceive a child. The cure has been deemed medically inexplicable and was corroborated by medical diagnosis before and after the disappearance of the woman's cancer. In December 2006, the Holy See recognized this first miracle attributed to Namuncurá. The cause for Namuncurá's beatification began in 1944 and Pope Pius XII approved of introducing the case in 1957. Pope Paul VI declared Namuncurá "Venerable" in 1972, having recognized his Christian virtues. He was the first Argentine to achieve this distinction. Ceferino Namuncurá was born in the chilly and windswept southern province of Rio Negro to Manuel Namuncurá, a native chieftain, and Rosario Burgos, a Chilean woman. Namuncurá means "Stone Foot" in the Mapuche language. He received his primary education in the Tigre region near Buenos Aires and was a companion of Carlos Gardel – famed Argentine tango singer and matinee idol. Namuncurá was adopted by Salesian priest Juan Cagliero in 1898 and, at the age of 17, felt himself called to the priesthood. However, because of ill-health, the Salesian order to which he applied sent him to Viedma where he was a student at a Salesian-run school. Father Cagliero took him to Italy to find a cure for his tuberculosis and continue his studies for the priesthood. However, the young Ceferino died in 1905 in Italy. His remains were repatriated in 1924 and now lie at the María Auxiliadora Sanctuary at Fortín Mercedes. He has long been considered a saint by Argentines, while the anniversaries of his death and birth are marked by pious processions.