The Bishop of Goya (Argentina), Mons. Adolfo Ramón Canecín, sent a carta pastoral to the pilgrims of the Cruz Gil, a place where thousands of devotees of “Gauchito Gil”—Antonio Gil—come every year, a figure who is not part of the Catholic saints.
The Catholic Church in Goya joins in this way, as it has been doing for several years, the nearly 250,000 pilgrims who head to the place every January 8.
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A large cross is located there and there is an image of Antonio Gil. On the large property, the provincial government is advancing in the construction of commercial posts, parking lots, and other utilities for pilgrims.
Bishop Canecín titled his pastoral letter “Hail, O Cross! Only Hope,” and dedicated his message to highlighting the centrality of Christ.
The prelate also expressed affection, closeness and his intention to “pilgrimage with you with devotion, the path to the Cross, our only hope.”
“As the Diocese of Goya, we proposed to focus on Jesus Christ, doing everything with young people, being a Church on a missionary outing,” said Bishop Canecín, referring in a special way to this Jubilee year that has as its motto “Pilgrims of hope.”
“Jesus, who died on the cross and was resurrected, is the center of our faith and the nucleus of our hope,” he insisted, assuring that through our Lord “we glory in the hope of the glory of God… and hope will not be disappointed because the “The love of God has been poured into our hearts by the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.”
“I invite you to contemplate and touch the Cross, depositing gratitude, intentions, sorrows and afflictions in it; receiving the health, peace and blessing that flow from it. “This way they will be able to return to their homes full of happiness, joy and peace,” the bishop called.
“I ask you to be witnesses and to make it your goal: to mark your bodies, houses and things, every day, with the sign of the Cross,” he invited.
Who was “Gauchito Gil”?
Antonio Plutarco Cruz Mamerto Gil Núñez, popularly known as “Gauchito Gil”, was born around 1840 near Mercedes, province of Corrientes (Argentina).
Tradition says that he enlisted as a soldier in the War of the Triple Alliance (1864 – 1870) to escape from a dangerous situation as a result of an affair, but once in the army, he deserted, and for that reason he was persecuted and captured by the military.
Before his execution, Gil predicted the healing of his captors’ son, a prediction that came true, consolidating his fame as an intercessor of miracles.
He died on January 8, 1878, the date on which every year hundreds of thousands of pilgrims come to Mercedes to honor his memory, wearing red attire.
Juliet Villar
I am a journalist, with a degree in communication from the National University of La Matanza in Argentina. I have work experience in non-governmental organizations. Since 2016 I have been dedicated to Catholic journalism, first at the Argentine Catholic Information Agency (AICA) and, since 2022, as ACI Prensa correspondent for Argentina, Chile, Uruguay and Bolivia.