Saint Joselito: From Patron Saint of Altar Servers to Pistolero de Cristo

The canonization of José Sánchez del Río (2016) gave way to several proposals to create visual hagiographies. Films about the life, faith, and devotion of the young Mexican martyr. After the box office success of the film Cristiada, a new line of production and narratives highlight the qualities of Joselito, particularly his faith, and devotion. Saint Joselito is very popular institutionally. He is a worldwide patron of Persecuted Christians, Children, and Adolescents. He is also Patron of Sahuayo, and some dioceses proclaimed him their patron for altar boys. Some narrative also presents him as a talented young gunman.

The promotion of the Saint goes against the current process that brought him to the altars. Fernando M. González's reflection on the construction of Catholic martyrs, "whose blood is left and gunpowder is removed" seems different when Catholic filmmakers or producers seek the mass dissemination of the martyrial figure. Instead of a resigned martyr, they want to represent him, as an active champion of the catholic faith, who died for his ideals. In this sense, the figure of Joselito projects for film directors, a figure that can represent that of the young Catholic, who, despite social secularization, dares to defend his faith. At the same time, they present him as an adolescent, who must struggle for his decision, who argued with his parents, and has the same problem as any other young man. It becomes a new figure of evangelizing promotion. An extraordinary adolescent who decides to stand up and fight against the mainstream anticlericalism and anti-catholicism of that time.

The paper will use categories from Slavoj Zizek´s Lacrimae Rerum and Enjoy your symptom, to analyze the martyrial narrative chosen by a film produced during the pandemic: Mirando al Cielo directed by Roberto Pelaez.