Ceferino Namuncurá

Desirous of preparing his son to become the future defender and guide of his people, Manuel Namuncurá sent him to study in Buenos Aires at the age of 11. In 1897, he was first enrolled in a military school (the National Navy Workshops in Tigre), but as the only indigenous student, he suffered mistreatment there and quickly fell ill. Thanks to the intervention of Father Milanesio, he was transferred to the Salesian college "Pío IX" in Almagro, Buenos Aires. It was in this institution that Ceferino discovered the spirituality of Don Bosco and became passionate about the Christian faith. There, he notably rubbed shoulders with the future famous tango singer Carlos Gardel within the college choir. Deeply marked by reading the biography of Dominic Savio, he decided to take this young saint as a model for his life. He then expressed an ardent desire: to become a Salesian priest to return and evangelize his own people. In 1903, at the age of sixteen and a half, he was admitted among the Salesian aspirants in Viedma by Msgr. Juan Cagliero, Apostolic Vicar of Patagonia, to begin the study of Latin. However, his fragile health deteriorated and he contracted tuberculosis. To offer him better conditions for care and study, Msgr. Cagliero decided to take him to Italy in 1904. In Italy, he studied at the Salesian college of Villa Sora in Frascati, where he distinguished himself by his excellent academic results, particularly in Latin. During his stay, he was presented to Pope Pius X, who received him in a private audience and blessed him with emotion. Despite the care provided, the disease progressed inexorably. He was hospitalized at the Fatebenefratelli Hospital on Tiber Island in Rome, where he passed away peacefully on May 11, 1905, at the age of 18.

The reputation of sanctity of Ceferino Namuncurá spread rapidly after his death, both in Italy and in Argentina, where he became a deeply beloved figure of popular devotion, particularly in Patagonia. The process for his beatification officially opened in 1947 in Viedma. On March 3, 1957, Pope Pius XII approved the formal introduction of his cause. On June 22, 1972, Pope Paul VI promulgated the decree recognizing the heroic nature of his virtues, thereby declaring him 'Venerable.' He thus became the first Argentine to receive this title.

To pave the way for his beatification, a miracle attributed to his intercession was examined by the Congregation for the Causes of Saints. It concerned the scientifically inexplicable healing of a young Argentine woman suffering from a serious illness. Following the unanimous opinion of the medical and theological commissions, Pope Benedict XVI signed the decree recognizing this miracle on July 6, 2007. The beatification ceremony was celebrated on November 11, 2007, in Chimpay, his hometown in Argentina. It was presided over by Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone, Vatican Secretary of State and papal legate, in the presence of an immense crowd estimated at more than 100,000 people, including numerous delegations from the Mapuche people. Ceferino Namuncurá was thus proclaimed the first blessed of indigenous origin from Argentina.

The spirituality of Ceferino Namuncurá is a remarkable fruit of Salesian pedagogy and the "Preventive System" of Saint John Bosco. It is characterized by a deep joy, an intimate friendship with Jesus and Mary, and a rigorous fidelity to daily duties. His absolute model was Saint Dominic Savio, whose piety and active charity he imitated. Ceferino also represents a unique synthesis between fidelity to his ancestral Mapuche roots and his total adherence to the Christian faith. Pope Francis, who has dedicated several writings to him and cited him in his apostolic exhortation Christus vivit (2019), regularly highlights his exemplary desire to be a priest to serve his people without ever denying his culture of origin. Today, his sanctuary in Chimpay attracts hundreds of thousands of pilgrims each year, making him one of the most popular spiritual figures in Argentina.