This Cross painted on wood initially hung in the Church of San Damiano, situated half way between hillside town of Assisi above and the Spoletan Valley below. It came to prominence when Jesus spoke to […]
The crucifix depicting the 12th station of South America’s largest Stations of the Cross in Tandil, Buenos Aires Province, in Argentina. / Credit: Banfield, CC BY-SA 3.0 via Wikimedia Commons
CNA Newsroom, Jan 14, 2023 / 08:00 am (CNA).
The largest Stations of the Cross in South America, located in the city of Tandil in the Buenos Aires province in Argentina, turned 80 on Jan. 10.
Bishop Fortunato Devoto — then auxiliary bishop of Buenos Aires — along with his cousin, Pedro Redolatti, promoted the initiative, which was finally dedicated in 1943.
The crucifix depicting the 12th station is almost 50 feet tall. The other sculptures representing Christ’s Way of the Cross are about twice life-size.
The faithful and tourists can get to the crucifix by climbing a 195-step stone staircase that goes up the hill on which the crucifix stands.
The Via Crucis is a very popular site for those visiting the mountainous area of Buenos Aires province and is one of the most impressive sites in the city of Tandil.
Contributing to the construction of the project were the municipality of Tandil and the provincial and national governments, as well as private donors.
The original cross was made from a 100-year-old conifer tree, a donation from the director of Provincial Parks, Ezequiel Bustillo. Over time the cross deteriorated, and in 1949 it was replaced by a cement one.
The dedication ceremony was attended by the then president of Argentina, Ramón Castillo, and the mayor of the city of Tandil, William Leeson.
Among the clergy present were the apostolic nuncio, Bishop Giuseppe Fietta; the bishop of Azul, César Caneva; Bishop Miguel D’Andrea, auxiliary bishop of Buenos Aires; and Father Julio Chienno, the pastor of Tandil.
It is estimated that the dedication ceremony was attended by about 40,000 people. By then, Bishop Fortunato Devoto had already passed away — he died in 1941.
During Holy Week, thousands of believers from different parts of Argentina and other countries come to the Via Crucis.
In the first few days of 2023, the National Commission of Monuments, Places, and Historical Assets of the Chamber of Deputies (lower house) issued its opinion in favor of having the Mount Calvary of Tandil declared a National Historic Monument.
A bill to that effect was introduced in June 2022 by Rogelio Iparraguirre, a representative in the Chamber of Deputies. If it becomes law, it will enable greater investment for the site’s conservation.
This story was first published by ACI Prensa, CNA’s Spanish-language news partner. It has been translated and adapted by CNA.
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San Miguel de Tucumán, Argentina, Jan 4, 2021 / 03:46 pm (CNA).- Several hours before the beginning of 2021, a 9-year-old Argentine boy was saved from a stray bullet by a small metal crucifix on his chest, an event that local media have called “a New Year’s Miracle.”
According to a report from the police office of San Miguel de Tucumán, capital of the northwestern province of Tucumán, “the event took place around 10:00 pm on December 31 2020: a 9-year-old boy named Tiziano, from the neighborhood of Las Talitas, checked in with his father into the ER of the Baby Jesus Hospital in the southern part of the capital city with a superficial wound in the thorax, produced by a firearm.”
“After being checked thoroughly by several doctors on staff for 48 minutes, the boy was released,” the report says.
Tiziano’s family contacted José Romero Silva, a journalist from Telefé, Jan. 1 to explain how the boy’s life was saved: the bullet hit in the middle of the small metal crucifix that the boy received as a gift from his father. Tiziano’s aunt sent Silva a picture of how the bullet damaged the crucifix, which prevented the bullet from causing any real damage, except for a minor superficial wound.
<blockquote class=”twitter-tweet”><p lang=”es” dir=”ltr”>[MILAGRO DE AÑO NUEVO] Anoche minutos antes de la 00 una bala perdida le pegó en el pecho a un Niño en Las Talitas. Pero el impacto fue en un crucifijo que el menor llevaba puesto, lo que salvó su vida. El Cristo quedó intacto y el Niño con una herida por el roce<a href=”https://twitter.com/telefetucuman?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw”>@telefetucuman</a> <a href=”https://t.co/N0vfFPtE8U”>pic.twitter.com/N0vfFPtE8U</a></p>— José Romero Silva (@Josecitors) <a href=”https://twitter.com/Josecitors/status/1345172600113262593?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw”>January 2, 2021</a></blockquote> <script async src=”https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js” charset=”utf-8″></script>
Silva shared the picture in his Twitter account, writing: “New Year’s Miracle: yesterday, minutes before 00 hours a stray bullet hit the chest of a boy from Las Talitas. But it hit in a crucifix the minor was wearing.”
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