Buenos Aires, Argentina, Aug 8, 2004 / 22:00 pm
During the celebration of the feast of St. Cajetan, venerated in Argentina as the patron of food and work, Cardinal Jorge Bergoglio, Archbishop of Buenos Aires, called on Argentineans to not lose hope in the face of injustice and poverty.
Thousands of faithful stood in line on the eve of the feast of St. Cajetan to enter the shrine at midnight, to pray for work and to give thanks for bread on the table.
For the last 20 years, the first person to enter the temple has been Delia Noris Lencina who, draped in an Argentinean flag, crawls on her knees to the image of St. Cajetan.
“There is so much injustice, suffering and violence. And yet the Lord puts bread on our table and He gives us renewed strength to carry on and He sends us out again to our jobs, our families and our country: we still have far to go. There is so much to be done!” exclaimed Cardinal Bergoglio during the Mass on Saturday.