Argentina: At the Cruz Gil, bishop asks to focus devotion on the cross of Jesus

The Bishop of Goya (Argentina), Bishop Adolfo Ramón Canecín, celebrated the solemnity of the Exaltation of the Cross with a Mass on the grounds of the Cruz Gil and a procession to the place, where a temple dedicated to the Holy Cross is being built. .

The place where the Mass was celebrated is a pilgrimage destination for many people who worship Antonio “Gauchito” Gil, a figure who is not part of the Catholic saints, and who welcomes about 250,000 faithful every January 8.

For some years now, the local diocese, attentive to the reality of numerous pilgrims who come to the place, has offered the presence of priests and even the bishop, to facilitate devotees’ approach to the message of Jesus.

In this context, on the Cruz Gil property, near the town of Mercedes, a space that belongs to the Bishopric where a Catholic temple is being built, a Mass for the deceased was celebrated this September 14, presided by Bishop Canecín and concelebrated by Father Ramón Felipe Espinoza.

In your homilyBishop Canecín emphasized the cross: “Every time a Christian crosses himself by placing the cross on his body, or when he touches the cross while receiving grace, he is professing his faith in Jesus Christ crucified and resurrected. “He is our supreme mediator between God and men,” said the prelate, according to AICA.

The bishop also recalled the importance of “devotion to the Gil Cross focusing on the cross of Our Lord Jesus Christ” and nothing else.

Likewise, and in line with what the local Church has been doing for some years, Bishop Canecín advised the accompaniment of pilgrims and devotees in the sanctuary of the Cruz Gil.

“Brother, the cross synthesizes the entire Christian faith,” said the bishop, describing the Gil Cross as a place of “expression of popular religiosity.”

In that sense, he invited us to see the cross “with a deep and profound look, to discover it as a theological place, where I can meet Jesus, with God, with my brother, which is also a theological place, especially the poor.”

The intention of the temple that is under construction is that it can be “a space of serenity, of silence, of prayer, that favors an experience of faith in the encounter with Jesus Christ, who loved us and gave himself for us on the Cross.”

Who was “Gauchito Gil”?

Known as “Gauchito Gil”, Antonio Plutarco Cruz Mamerto Gil Núñez was born around 1840 near Mercedes, in the province of Corrientes.

Legend has it that he enlisted as a soldier in the War of the Triple Alliance (1864 – 1870) to escape a dangerous situation in which he found himself involved as a result of an affair, but once in the army, he deserted, and for that reason For this reason he was pursued 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 was murdered on January 8, 1878, the date on which every year hundreds of thousands of pilgrims come to Mercedes to honor his memory, wearing red outfits.