Thousands of people marched in Buenos Aires on Friday to honour San Cayetano, the patron saint of bread and work, in a traditional day of union mobilisation that in recent years has also become a protest against President Javier Milei’s austerity measures.
The demonstration, organised by the Confederación General del Trabajo (General Confederation of Labour, CGT) umbrella group, trade unions and social organisations, was preceded by a mass at the Saint Cajetan shrine in the Liniers neighbourhood in the far west of the city.
The march came a day after a protest outside Congress against a bill promoted by Milei that would strengthen protections for private property, during which demonstrators clashed with police.
Carrying religious images and banners, various groups marched towards Plaza de Mayo, in front of the government headquarters, under the slogan “peace, bread, housing and Argentine work.”
During the homily, Buenos Aires Archbishop Jorge García Cuerva said that ‘responsibility and the concrete solution to economic and social problems lies with a political leadership that sometimes appears to look the other way’.
Although Saint Cajetan (Cajetan of Thiene) was born in Venice in 1480 and carried out his work in Naples, successive waves of Spanish and Italian immigration brought devotion to the Catholic saint to Argentina.
Some believers arrived at the shrine several days in advance to keep vigil and enter at midnight as Friday, August 7 began.
“I’ve been coming to San Cayetano for 40 years, and since I started coming I’ve never been without work, and above all, health,” said José Jiménez, a retired man waiting his turn to enter the shrine. He said he had come to “give thanks and ask” the saint for help.
– TIMES/AFP
