St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome will canonize the Jesuit Mama Antula (1730-1799). She will thus become Argentina’s first saint. Considered a pioneer of human rights, Mama Antula was a Jesuit laywoman and defender of the Indians in an Argentina that, in the 18th century, was still only a vice-kingdom of the Spanish royalty.
Mama Antula, already beatified in 2016
Argentina, which already had three male saints, sees its first saint who will shortly be canonized at St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome, during a mass attended by two compatriots: Pope Francis, former archbishop of Buenos Aires, and President Javier Milei.
Maria Antonia de Paz y Figueroa, better known as Mama Antula, became Argentina’s first saint. In 2016, Mama Antula was already beatified. Today, her canonization is due to two miracles attributed to her: the healing of a nun in 1905 and of a teacher who suffered a severe stroke in 2017.
Cintia Suarez, co-author of a biography of Mama Antula, describes “a life of commitment to the excluded Indians, slaves, mulattoes and peasants”, all of whom were “considered as things in colonial times”.
At the age of 15, she announced that “she would neither be a nun nor a wife”.
Maria Antonia de Paz y Figueroa, better known by her affectionate nickname “Mama Antula”, was born into a wealthy family in Villa Silipica, 1,100 km north of Buenos Aires. Educated by the Jesuits, she rebelled against the restrictive standards of the time.
At the age of 15, when girls were expected to marry or enter a convent, she rebelled, telling her father that “she would neither be a nun nor a wife”, says Cintia
Suarez. Attracted by the intellectual openness offered by the Jesuits, her decision was made: she would be a consecrated lay Jesuit.
4000 km on foot to spread the Jesuit message
She leaves her family. “Mama Antula began an itinerant community life in the northern provinces, with other consecrated women, serving the poor, orphans and the sick”, explains Cintia Suarez.
She covered more than 4,000 km on foot, mixing nursing with “spiritual exercises”, spreading the Jesuit message and promoting reading and writing among the Indian populations.
Buenos Aires, the final stage
In 1767, the shock came when the King of Spain ordered the expulsion of the Jesuits. “Mama Antula sensed the spiritual and social emptiness of the mission Indians (…) It upset her,” explains her biographer. Although not targeted as a laywoman by this order, she decided to continue the Jesuit work.
“After 20 years and over 4,000 km on foot in the northern provinces, she arrived in Buenos Aires, barefoot, sandals destroyed, her Jesuit cape in tatters, carrying a wooden cross”, describes Cintia Suarez.
In Buenos Aires, Mama Antula continued her “Spiritual Exercises”, attracting people from all walks of life. She held meditation, prayer and reflection sessions… It attracted people from all walks of life.
Mocked and mistaken for a witch
People “took her for a witch or a madwoman” because of her ragged appearance, recounts Cintia Suarez, based on accounts from the time.”Some youngsters threw stones at her, and she took refuge in a small chapel” where the today’s Basilica of Piety. Her remains rest there next to a statue of her.
Raul Laurencena, priest of this parish, assures us that “attendance has increased recently”, a time of economic hardship. “People come to pray for bread, for work, for peace. For our country, which needs it so badly”, he says.
She trained key players in the independence movement, such as Manuel Belgrano and Miguel de Azcuenaga.
Faced with the craze, the viceroy and the bishop, initially hostile, authorized her to open a house for these sessions. “She succeeded in making all social classes live together in harmony,” says Cintia Suarez. The Argentine Catholic news agency AICA argues that “Mama Antula’s political influence may have been greater than her religious impact”.
Mama Antula, who died in 1799 at the age of 69, left an indelible legacy. “A strong woman, as she was called at the time, Mama Antula was very courageous, and rebellious in the good sense of the word,” sums up her biographer Cintia Suarez.
“Her message was very strong for its time, and still inspires women today. It has gained momentum thanks to Jorge Bergoglio”, the current Pope. She trained key players in the independence movement, such as Manuel Belgrano and Miguel de Azcuenaga, but did not live to see the future “Argentina”.