San La Muerte, el monje compasivo: mitopoesis y acomodación social en una devoción popular estigmatizada

Abstract

Abstract: The growth of faith in San La Muerte in Argentina has been accompanied by the legend that he was a pious monk that cared for lepers. Envious of his popularity and noble heart, he was incarcerated and left to die of hunger by fellow priests. The skeleton of the monk became the saint that is worshipped today. This story serves several purposes. It equates him with other Catholic saints, since he led a pious life and was martyred by virtue of his good deeds. However, it also provides a critical view of the Church and places the saint/monk close to the sufferings of the common people. The story also differentiates him from the Mexican Santa Muerte - which, according to Argentine devotees, never had an earthly passage - and likens him to other Argentine folk saints, especially to a series of sanctified social bandits who were murdered by powerful social actors for siding with the underlings. It also serves as a form of social accommodation as followers of a stigmatized saint can now claim to worship a person who led a pious life and not merely "Death" as a denial of life -as their critics claim.

Resumen: El culto a San La Muerte, originalmente circunscripto al noreste argentino, se expandió por todo la Argentina en las últimas dos décadas. Junto con el crecimiento nacional de su devoción ganó recientemente popularidad la leyenda de que en su origen fue un monje franciscano que cuidaba a los leprosos marginados por la sociedad, y que por esto fue encarcelado y dejado para morir de hambre por otros frailes envidiosos de su popularidad. El esqueleto del monje daría entonces origen al santo. En este trabajo argumentaré que la historia, la más narrada actualmente para explicar la naturaleza de San La Muerte, cumple varios propósitos. Por un lado, lo entronca con la tradición católica: reivindica su condición primigenia de monje y lo equipara a otros santos, ya que habría sido una persona piadosa martirizada en virtud de sus buenos actos.