Ceferino Namuncurá
Encyclopedia
Blessed
Ceferino Namuncurá (August 26, 1886 - May 11, 1905) was a saintly religious student and the object of a Roman Catholic cultus of veneration in northern Patagonia
and throughout Argentina
.
, Argentina
, the sixth child of Rosario Burgos and a Mapuche
cacique
, Manuel Namuncurá. He was baptized
by a Salesian missionary priest, Domingo Milanesio, at the age of eight.
Namuncurá's early years were spent by the Río Negro river, and it was here that he, according to legend, miraculously survived a fall into the river.
His father Manuel, Chief of the Mapuches, promoted to honorary Colonel in the Argentine army, decided that his son study in Buenos Aires, in order to prepare himself "to be useful to his people." Thanks to the friendship of Manuel with General Luís María Campos, Minister of War and Navy of Argentina
, the boy came to study in the National Workshops of the Navy as a carpenter's apprentice. There he would remain for three months. Ceferino wrote to his father that he was not happy in that place and Manuel then asked former Argentine president Luis Sáenz Peña
's advise. He recommended to Colonel Manuel Namuncurá that he send the boy to the Salesians of Don Bosco
.
, Buenos Aires
, where he was given a Catholic education.
There he showed himself to be an excellent student and choral musician. From April 2, 1901, Carlos Gardel
, afterward legendary tango
singer and film actor, became a student at the academy and sang along with Ceferino in the chorus. The Mapuche lad always earned first place.
When he finished his studies, Manuel his father wanted him back home, to serve as interpreter and secretary, but Ceferino was already enthusiastic about becoming a Salesian priest.
accompanying Mgr. Giovanni Cagliero, a former disciple of Don Bosco who was to become an Archbishop
. Pope Pius X
received them in September, after which Namuncurá moved to Turin
and later to the Salesian College "Villa Sora
" in Frascati
, to continue his education. He became increasingly ill during the Italian winter and was taken to Rome, where he finally succumbed to pulmonary tuberculosis on May 11, 1905, at the Fate bene fratelli hospital.
.
At his birthplace of Chimpay was erected a small chapel, where believers from Río Negro Province and beyond began to pray for his intercession. In 1945, a request for his beatification was elevated to the Holy See
. Between May 13 and July 10, 1947, the Catholic Church started officially the process for Canonization of Ceferino Namuncurá, with 21 then-living witnesses deposing evidence in favour of his saintly virtues.
On June 22, 1972, Pope Paul VI
promulgated the Decree of Heroism of His Virtues and Ceferino was thus proclaimed venerable
, becoming the first Catholic Argentine to receive that title and the first South American aborigine.
The devotion to Ceferino Namuncurá, the saintly young Mapuche, known popularly as The Lily of Patagonia ("El lirio de la Patagonia") became very extended in Buenos Aires
and throughout Argentina
. In particular the humbler classes of Argentina recognise him, because of his indigenous features, as one of their own. The affection of the people of Argentina for this selfless young man is quite touchingly sincere and images and representations of his gentle face are myriad. Because of his belonging to the Salesians of Don Bosco, who always faithfully promoted his remembrance, his figure started to become familiar worldwide, anywhere where the Salesian work, introducing Ceferino as a model of younthful holiness and selflessness.
In 1991 his relics were translated from the small sanctuary chapel to the roomier Sanctuary of Mary, Help of Christians, at the same town of Fortín Mercedes.
, Argentina
, could not be explained medically, with which it was left to Church authorities to decree that it was a miracle due to the intercession of Ceferino Namuncurá. This was one of the main facts that opened the way for the beatification of Ceferino.
Pope Benedict XVI finally decreed his beatification on 6 July 2007. The ceremony of beatification was held in Chimpay, Argentina, on November 11, 2007. It was one few beatification ceremonies held outside the Vatican
and in the blessed's own land (traditionally it is celebrated in Saint Peter Square in Rome); it was the first beatification of a South American aborigine; Blessed Ceferino was beatified by Cardenal Tarcisio Bertone, a Salesian of Don Bosco and Vatican Secretary of State. The ceremony was attended by more than ten thousand persons with the active participation of Mapuche delegations.
Ceferino's liturgical calendar memorial as a Catholic beatus was established on August 26.
Manuel Gálvez
, the prominent Argentine novelist and biographer, published a classic biography of Ceferino Namuncurá in 1947: EL SANTITO DE LA TOLDERIA. La vida perfecta de Ceferino Namuncurá.
Beatification
Beatification is a recognition accorded by the Catholic Church of a dead person's entrance into Heaven and capacity to intercede on behalf of individuals who pray in his or her name . Beatification is the third of the four steps in the canonization process...
Ceferino Namuncurá (August 26, 1886 - May 11, 1905) was a saintly religious student and the object of a Roman Catholic cultus of veneration in northern Patagonia
Patagonia
Patagonia is a region located in Argentina and Chile, integrating the southernmost section of the Andes mountains to the southwest towards the Pacific ocean and from the east of the cordillera to the valleys it follows south through Colorado River towards Carmen de Patagones in the Atlantic Ocean...
and throughout Argentina
Argentina
Argentina , officially the Argentine Republic , is the second largest country in South America by land area, after Brazil. It is constituted as a federation of 23 provinces and an autonomous city, Buenos Aires...
.
Early life
He was born at Chimpay, a small town in Valle Medio, Río Negro ProvinceRío Negro Province
Río Negro is a province of Argentina, located at the northern edge of Patagonia. Neighboring provinces are from the south clockwise Chubut, Neuquén, Mendoza, La Pampa and Buenos Aires. To the east lies the Atlantic Ocean.Its capital is Viedma...
, Argentina
Argentina
Argentina , officially the Argentine Republic , is the second largest country in South America by land area, after Brazil. It is constituted as a federation of 23 provinces and an autonomous city, Buenos Aires...
, the sixth child of Rosario Burgos and a Mapuche
Mapuche
The Mapuche are a group of indigenous inhabitants of south-central Chile and southwestern Argentina. They constitute a wide-ranging ethnicity composed of various groups who shared a common social, religious and economic structure, as well as a common linguistic heritage. Their influence extended...
cacique
Cacique
Cacique is a title derived from the Taíno word for the pre-Columbian chiefs or leaders of tribes in the Bahamas, Greater Antilles, and the northern Lesser Antilles...
, Manuel Namuncurá. He was baptized
Baptism
In Christianity, baptism is for the majority the rite of admission , almost invariably with the use of water, into the Christian Church generally and also membership of a particular church tradition...
by a Salesian missionary priest, Domingo Milanesio, at the age of eight.
Namuncurá's early years were spent by the Río Negro river, and it was here that he, according to legend, miraculously survived a fall into the river.
His father Manuel, Chief of the Mapuches, promoted to honorary Colonel in the Argentine army, decided that his son study in Buenos Aires, in order to prepare himself "to be useful to his people." Thanks to the friendship of Manuel with General Luís María Campos, Minister of War and Navy of Argentina
Argentina
Argentina , officially the Argentine Republic , is the second largest country in South America by land area, after Brazil. It is constituted as a federation of 23 provinces and an autonomous city, Buenos Aires...
, the boy came to study in the National Workshops of the Navy as a carpenter's apprentice. There he would remain for three months. Ceferino wrote to his father that he was not happy in that place and Manuel then asked former Argentine president Luis Sáenz Peña
Luis Sáenz Peña
Luis Sáenz Peña was a lawyer and President of Argentina.He graduated in law from the University of Buenos Aires, and participated in the constitutional assembly of 1860. He was a number of times a national deputy and senator. In 1882 he occupied a seat on the Supreme Court of the Province of...
's advise. He recommended to Colonel Manuel Namuncurá that he send the boy to the Salesians of Don Bosco
Salesians of Don Bosco
The Salesians of Don Bosco is a Roman Catholic religious order founded in the late nineteenth century by Saint John Bosco in an attempt, through works of charity, to care for the young and poor children of the industrial revolution...
.
With the Salesians
On September 20, 1897, Ceferino went to study with the Salesians at the Colegio Pío IX, a technical academy at AlmagroAlmagro, Buenos Aires
Almagro is a mostly middle-class barrio of Buenos Aires, Argentina.The neighbourhood is delimited by La Plata avenue and Río de Janeiro street to the west, Independencia avenue to the south, Sánchez de Bustamante, Sánchez de Loria and Gallo streets to the east, and Córdoba/Estado de Israel avenues...
, Buenos Aires
Buenos Aires
Buenos Aires is the capital and largest city of Argentina, and the second-largest metropolitan area in South America, after São Paulo. It is located on the western shore of the estuary of the Río de la Plata, on the southeastern coast of the South American continent...
, where he was given a Catholic education.
There he showed himself to be an excellent student and choral musician. From April 2, 1901, Carlos Gardel
Carlos Gardel
Carlos Gardel was a singer, songwriter and actor, and is perhaps the most prominent figure in the history of tango. He was born in Toulouse, France, although he never acknowledged his birthplace publicly, and there are still claims of his birth in Uruguay. He lived in Argentina from the age of two...
, afterward legendary tango
Tango music
Tango is a style of ballroom dance music in 2/4 or 4/4 time that originated among European immigrant populations of Argentina and Uruguay . It is traditionally played by a sextet, known as the orquesta típica, which includes two violins, piano, double bass, and two bandoneons...
singer and film actor, became a student at the academy and sang along with Ceferino in the chorus. The Mapuche lad always earned first place.
When he finished his studies, Manuel his father wanted him back home, to serve as interpreter and secretary, but Ceferino was already enthusiastic about becoming a Salesian priest.
In Italy
Although his health was already generally frail, Ceferino began studies toward the priesthood. In 1904, he departed for ItalyItaly
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
accompanying Mgr. Giovanni Cagliero, a former disciple of Don Bosco who was to become an Archbishop
Archbishop
An archbishop is a bishop of higher rank, but not of higher sacramental order above that of the three orders of deacon, priest , and bishop...
. Pope Pius X
Pope Pius X
Pope Saint Pius X , born Giuseppe Melchiorre Sarto, was the 257th Pope of the Catholic Church, serving from 1903 to 1914. He was the first pope since Pope Pius V to be canonized. Pius X rejected modernist interpretations of Catholic doctrine, promoting traditional devotional practices and orthodox...
received them in September, after which Namuncurá moved to Turin
Turin
Turin is a city and major business and cultural centre in northern Italy, capital of the Piedmont region, located mainly on the left bank of the Po River and surrounded by the Alpine arch. The population of the city proper is 909,193 while the population of the urban area is estimated by Eurostat...
and later to the Salesian College "Villa Sora
Villa Sora
Villa Sora is a villa in Frascati, Italy. This villa was built at the end of 16th century by Giacomo Boncompagni, duke of Sora, natural son of Pope Gregory XIII. In the central hall there are painted fresco decorations of Cavalier D'Arpino...
" in Frascati
Frascati
Frascati is a town and comune in the province of Rome in the Lazio region of central Italy. It is located south-east of Rome, on the Alban Hills close to the ancient city of Tusculum. Frascati is closely associated with science, being the location of several international scientific...
, to continue his education. He became increasingly ill during the Italian winter and was taken to Rome, where he finally succumbed to pulmonary tuberculosis on May 11, 1905, at the Fate bene fratelli hospital.
Back to Argentina
In 1924 his remains were returned to Argentina and placed at Fortín Mercedes, in the southern part of Buenos Aires ProvinceBuenos Aires Province
The Province of Buenos Aires is the largest and most populous province of Argentina. It takes the name from the city of Buenos Aires, which used to be the provincial capital until it was federalized in 1880...
.
At his birthplace of Chimpay was erected a small chapel, where believers from Río Negro Province and beyond began to pray for his intercession. In 1945, a request for his beatification was elevated to the Holy See
Holy See
The Holy See is the episcopal jurisdiction of the Catholic Church in Rome, in which its Bishop is commonly known as the Pope. It is the preeminent episcopal see of the Catholic Church, forming the central government of the Church. As such, diplomatically, and in other spheres the Holy See acts and...
. Between May 13 and July 10, 1947, the Catholic Church started officially the process for Canonization of Ceferino Namuncurá, with 21 then-living witnesses deposing evidence in favour of his saintly virtues.
On June 22, 1972, Pope Paul VI
Pope Paul VI
Paul VI , born Giovanni Battista Enrico Antonio Maria Montini , reigned as Pope of the Catholic Church from 21 June 1963 until his death on 6 August 1978. Succeeding Pope John XXIII, who had convened the Second Vatican Council, he decided to continue it...
promulgated the Decree of Heroism of His Virtues and Ceferino was thus proclaimed venerable
Venerable
The Venerable is used as a style or epithet in several Christian churches. It is also the common English-language translation of a number of Buddhist titles.-Roman Catholic:...
, becoming the first Catholic Argentine to receive that title and the first South American aborigine.
The devotion to Ceferino Namuncurá, the saintly young Mapuche, known popularly as The Lily of Patagonia ("El lirio de la Patagonia") became very extended in Buenos Aires
Buenos Aires
Buenos Aires is the capital and largest city of Argentina, and the second-largest metropolitan area in South America, after São Paulo. It is located on the western shore of the estuary of the Río de la Plata, on the southeastern coast of the South American continent...
and throughout Argentina
Argentina
Argentina , officially the Argentine Republic , is the second largest country in South America by land area, after Brazil. It is constituted as a federation of 23 provinces and an autonomous city, Buenos Aires...
. In particular the humbler classes of Argentina recognise him, because of his indigenous features, as one of their own. The affection of the people of Argentina for this selfless young man is quite touchingly sincere and images and representations of his gentle face are myriad. Because of his belonging to the Salesians of Don Bosco, who always faithfully promoted his remembrance, his figure started to become familiar worldwide, anywhere where the Salesian work, introducing Ceferino as a model of younthful holiness and selflessness.
In 1991 his relics were translated from the small sanctuary chapel to the roomier Sanctuary of Mary, Help of Christians, at the same town of Fortín Mercedes.
Blessed
In 2000 a committee of Vatican pathologists declared that the healing of the uterine cancer of a young mother, Valeria Herrera from CórdobaCórdoba, Argentina
Córdoba is a city located near the geographical center of Argentina, in the foothills of the Sierras Chicas on the Suquía River, about northwest of Buenos Aires. It is the capital of Córdoba Province. Córdoba is the second-largest city in Argentina after the federal capital Buenos Aires, with...
, Argentina
Argentina
Argentina , officially the Argentine Republic , is the second largest country in South America by land area, after Brazil. It is constituted as a federation of 23 provinces and an autonomous city, Buenos Aires...
, could not be explained medically, with which it was left to Church authorities to decree that it was a miracle due to the intercession of Ceferino Namuncurá. This was one of the main facts that opened the way for the beatification of Ceferino.
Pope Benedict XVI finally decreed his beatification on 6 July 2007. The ceremony of beatification was held in Chimpay, Argentina, on November 11, 2007. It was one few beatification ceremonies held outside the Vatican
Vatican City
Vatican City , or Vatican City State, in Italian officially Stato della Città del Vaticano , which translates literally as State of the City of the Vatican, is a landlocked sovereign city-state whose territory consists of a walled enclave within the city of Rome, Italy. It has an area of...
and in the blessed's own land (traditionally it is celebrated in Saint Peter Square in Rome); it was the first beatification of a South American aborigine; Blessed Ceferino was beatified by Cardenal Tarcisio Bertone, a Salesian of Don Bosco and Vatican Secretary of State. The ceremony was attended by more than ten thousand persons with the active participation of Mapuche delegations.
Ceferino's liturgical calendar memorial as a Catholic beatus was established on August 26.
Legacy of Ceferino
Ceferino Namuncurá's first legacy is to his own nation and people: Argentina and the Mapuche people. Thanks to the influence of the Salesians of Don Bosco in education and publishing, there are many books and videos on the life of the young holy man, most of them in Spanish. The meaning of Ceferino is also important to the Mapuche and all South American ancestral peoples.Manuel Gálvez
Manuel Gálvez
Manuel Gálvez was an Argentine novelist, poet, essayist, historian and biographer....
, the prominent Argentine novelist and biographer, published a classic biography of Ceferino Namuncurá in 1947: EL SANTITO DE LA TOLDERIA. La vida perfecta de Ceferino Namuncurá.
Zephyrin: The Musicale
Zephyrin: The Musicale is a musical play in honor of Blessed Ceferino Namuncura. It is written by Jude Thaddeus Gitamondoc and directed by Daisy Brilliantes Ba-ad with the help of Don Bosco Technology Center Productions. It was shown on March 14, 15 and 16, 2008 at SM Cinema One in Cebu, Philippines. The Musical was a Salesian Production made in honor of the beatification of Ceferino. The Musical featured amateur actors, mostly coming from High School and Elementary departments, all of them learning how to act through the daily practices. The Story begun when Ceferino was only a child and ended after his death. The grief turned into joy as the country of Argentina was inspired to follow his example of Happiness and Love for his fellowmen despite the troubles of his life. The production team is planning to have a re-staging of the musical on Mid-October or on Early November.External links
- Namuncurá Portal, Don Bosco Asia Info, in English.
- Ceferino Namuncurá Official Site, Don Bosco Argentina in Spanish.