Journal Articles

Articles available in English

"El Niño Fidencio and the Fidencistas"
Article by Dr. Antonio N. Zavaleta.

Excerpt . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Nature of the Redeemer

Fulfilling the Mexican image of a redeemer, José Fidencio Sintora Constantino came to the attention of the Mexican press
in 1928. This coincided with president Calles's persecution of the Catholic Church.

His followers called him El Niño, "the child." He was a peasant, as poor as the people who sought deliverance at his hand.
He claimed that his power was derived from God through the soil and native plants of the desert. His spiritual gift, or don,
had been granted to him, through a direct revelation by Christ and the Holy Spirit, beneath a sacred pepper tree in the
center of Espinazo, a small village in northern Mexico. Fidencio adhered to a simple credo: "Those who suffer have the
Grace of God. By suffering, health is reached, and it is necessary that this should be so, because those who desire to be
well, should be strengthened by sorrows and pain" (Brenner 1929: 21).

View this article in Spanish
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"Historic Folk Sainthood along the Texas-Mexico Border"
Article by Joseph Spielberg and Dr. Antonio Zavaleta

Excerpt . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

The Prelude

As the nineteenth century dawned in celebration, Mexico could not imagine that the events of the first decades of
the new century would change her forever. In fact, the first three decades of the nineteenth century wrought with
tremendous political crisis and massive social upheaval, produced such irrevocable changes within the fabric of
Mexican society that they thrust the country into two centuries of continuous instability (1). In this environment of
crisis and alienation, revolutionaries like Padre Hidalgo, Benito Juarez, and later Pancho Villa and Emiliano Zapata
(2) emerged as folk-heroes. Within this same environment, Pedro Rojas, "Tatita," and José Fidencio Constantino,
"El Niño Fidencio," rose from obscurity to miracle workers status and, in death, to folk sainthood (3).
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Do Cultural Factors Affect Hispanic Health Status?
Article by Dr. Antonio N. Zavaleta

Excerpt . . . . . .

INTRODUCTION:

The question, do cultural factors characteristic of Hispanic populations affect their health status and health care
delivery systems, has been addressed professionally in both the research literature and in practice for more than
thirty years. The question may be answered emphatically, YES. In spite of all that we have learned and after more
than thirty years of research, this critical population continues to be the least understood in Texas. The importance
of Hispanic cultural beliefs in modern medical treatment and the general lack of attention to it is no exception. Texas
institutions of higher education and especially medical education have failed to meaningfully and systematically
incorporate curricula intended to understand the unique cultural factors affecting the Texas Hispanic population, both
native and immigrant.
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Articulos disponibles en Español:

"El Niño Fidencio": Un Santo Popular Para El Nuevo Milenio"
Articulo por Antonio N. Zavaleta.

Extracto de dicho articulo . . . . . .

EL NIÑO CURANDERO

El primer intento de Fidencio por curar fue un acto espontáneo, al tratar de acomodar el brazo que su madre se
había roto en una caída. Mientras que el acto de entablillar un brazo puede no tener nada de notable, se dice que
Fidencio sólo tenia ocho años cuando ocurrió (Quirós, 1991).

En Espinazo, Fidencio se ganó fama de curar animales y ayudar en su nacimiento, pero no fue hasta que ayudó en
el nacimiento de un ser humano cuando su habilidad y fama de curandero y partero se empezó a revelar.

Durante el curso de su vida, El Niño Fidencio tuvo varias experiencias sobrenaturales en forma de revelaciones o
visiones; algunas, según su propia afirmación, incluyeron visitas de Jesucristo.