The Argentines celebrate their first saint: it is Mama Antula, a kind of Mother Teresa who lived in the 18th century, dedicated to the indigenous and the Jesuits, and much loved in the Villas Miserias, the poorest suburbs of Buenos Aires where Pope Francis regularly said mass when he was archbishop. An emblematic figure of the 'people' who is now more than ever evoked by the poor and those participating in the demonstrations that are crossing the country, on its knees due to the crumbling economy, skyrocketing inflation, and protests against the measures adopted by the new president Milei to deal with the financial collapse of previous governments.
Maria Antonia of St. Joseph, in the world Antonia de Paz y Figueroa, known as Mama Antula, lived between 1730 and 1799. The Vatican recognized the miracle of having saved a man suffering from 'ischemic stroke with hemorrhagic infarction in several areas, deep coma, sepsis, resistant septic shock, with multi-organ failure'. He was hospitalized in Santa Fe and the doctors had given him up for dead. The desperate relatives prayed to Mama Antula and after a few days significant improvements were found, up to the healing and return to normal life of the man.
Mama Antula during her religious life founded the House of exercises in Buenos Aires where the Jesuits went to make spiritual retreats. She herself promoted spiritual exercises according to the Ignatian spirit, her life motto was to 'go where God is not known to make him known'.
For the canonization in St. Peter's Square on Sunday morning, the Argentine president Milei will also be there, who will have an official meeting with Pope Francis on Monday morning in the Apostolic Palace. It is an important conversation and they will have many things to say, starting from the situation of the country, to the question of Gaza. Milei announced these days, just while he was in Israel, to move to Jerusalem the Argentine embassy, exactly as the United States did with Trump.
The canonization of Mama Antula will serve for their rapprochement after the disagreements of recent months while in Argentina the protesters have made the widest possible opposition against the reformist design of the liberal president who aims to reshape the South American country. Recently the national strike saw the total closure of schools and businesses.
Francis has not hidden concern for the neoliberal Argentine turn. During the election campaign of Milei, a rather eccentric economist and nicknamed 'El Loco' (the madman), there were no lack of sparks. The president had even used offensive words towards Bergoglio, calling him a communist and a donkey. Epithets never heard before from a politician towards a pontiff. To those attacks the Pope did not respond then when Milei was elected he did not hesitate to get in touch with him for an institutional call. The conversation reported by some Argentine newspapers summarized a cordial and strategic exchange: Milei said he invited Francis to visit Argentina ensuring him a triumphant welcome and the Pope pretending nothing for the offenses. 'In the election campaign, words pass'.
The appointment on the agenda is important and will serve both to understand their respective margins of maneuver. Francis will use his moral weight to prevent drastic cuts from being made against the poorest, asking that the fragile sections of the population be protected. Milei will bring home a photo opportunity that is worth as a viaticum. The rest will be seen.
In the meantime, Milei's decree and the bill to save a country from default provides for a wave of privatizations, fierce cuts in spending, an expansion of presidential powers and a downsizing of workers' rights. Nine of the 18 government ministries have already been closed, including those responsible for education, the environment and women, gender and diversity. The Argentine currency, the peso, has been devalued by over 50% compared to the dollar. Milei will try to explain to Pope Francis why these moves will save Argentina from the 'economic hell' of the Peronists. The annual inflation rate has reached a three-decade high of 211.4%.
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