Early forms of franciscan evangelization: the recourse to the miracle in the reduction of Itatí. First half of the 17th century

Abstract

In this article we propose to analyze the resource of the miracle as one of the early forms of evangelization that the Franciscan order implemented among the Guaraní indigenous people. We particularly wonder what its implication was in the reduction of Itatí, established in the jurisdiction of the city of Corrientes, approximately 70 kilometers northeast of it, at the beginning of the 17th century.

The Franciscans sought evangelization and the reform of the customs of the indigenous people, resorting to the miracle as a basis of credulity, which contributed to the consolidation of an experience of ecclesiastical government; and fulfilled a confirmatory function of the established sociopolitical and religious order. It was articulated with the main channels of missionary action, preaching and the use of images. In Itatí an image of the virgin considered a miracle worker was venerated.

For this work we will resort to Franciscan documentary sources from the first half of the 17th century, edited and unpublished, which allowed us to observe the early missionary actions among the indigenous people of the Río de la Plata. Especially, reports and books of miracles performed by Itatí; the general provincial Franciscan chronicles; information on the services of the friars.