Niño Fidencio

Niño Fidencio
Born	1898
Died	October 19, 1938
Honored in	Fidencista Christian Church
Major shrine	Espinazo, Nuevo León, México
Feast	March 19

El Niño Fidencio (born 1898; died Espinazo, Mina, Nuevo León, October 19,1938) was a famous Mexican curandero. His birth name was José de Jesús Fidencio Constantino Síntora.^[1] Today he is revered by the Fidencista Christian Church. The Catholic Church does not recognize his official status as a saint, but his following has extended through the northern part of Mexico and the southwest of United States. This situation allows El Niño Fidencio to be recognized as a folk saint.

While in elementary school, he met Father Segura, as well as Enrique López de la Fuente, who was the janitor as well as his friend, and later, his protector. They both worked to help the priest with religious services, and it was at this time that Fidencio learned to work with herbs and how to to cure.

Adolescence and Adult Life

In 1912, Enrique and Fidencio left for the city of Morelia, Michoacán, where the latter worked until he decided to join the Mexican Revolution, causing them to be separated for nine years. Fidencio then moved to Loma Sola, Coahuila, where he lived with his sister Antonia.

At the age of fifteen, Fidencio attended school in Mina, Nuevo León, a town close to Espinazo. According to Raúl Cadena, Fidencio did not develop sexually, was always clean-shaven, had a soft voice, and never engaged in sexual activity.^[2]

In 1921, Enrique returned from the revolutionary struggle and went to work for Antonio L. Rodríguez at the San Rafael mine in Espinazo. There he had several children, and, needing help in caring for them, went to his childhood friend. Fidencio came to town that year, and remained there for the rest of his life. It was at this point that he began to perform healings.

On February 8, 1928, President Plutarco Elías Calles visited Espinazo and attended a healing session with Niño Fidencio.^[3] Although the president's ailment was unknown to the public at the time, Enrique records that he was suffering from nodular leprosy.

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Cures

Fidencio was famous for performing operations without anaesthesia without causing pain to patients, and provided cures related to specific parts of town, such as a pepper tree which the congregation threw offerings around, and a mud puddle in which his followers bathed.

According to devotees, Fidencio continues to work miracles through objects called Little Boxes.

Influence

During his life, a multitude of imitators and impostors appeared, the death of one of whom was mistaken for Fidencio's own. The falsified death was announced by the press, and his funeral prompted a massive outpouring of emotion. His actual death came just over a year later. Decades later, he is still well known in the town of Espinazo, and plays a significant part in the town's economy by generating tourism and the sale of religious objects and services.

Media

• The Mexican writer Felipe Montes devoted part of his work El Evangelio del Niño Fidencio to Niño Fidencio, providing a mystical version of his life.
• Quentin Tarantino references Niño Fidencio by name in the movie Death Proof.
• A film about him was directed by Nicolás Echevarría.

References

1. ^ http://www.zocalo.com.mx/seccion/articulo/fidencio-falsificado-hasta-en-su-muerte%7CZócalo Saltillo: Fidencio, falsificado hasta en su muerte, April 11, 2009
2. ^ Cadena, Raúl. “Reseña histórica”. El Niño Fidencio. In
3. ^ http://www.zocalo.com.mx/seccion/articulo/fidencio-falsificado-hasta-en-su-muerte%7Cmagazine=Zócalo Saltillo|title=Fidencio, falsificado hasta en su muerte|date=11 de abril de 2009

Further reading

• José Luis Berlanga, Éric Lara, César Ramírez (1999). Consejo Estatal para la Cultura y las Artes. ed. Las fiestas del dolor: un estudio sobre las celebraciones del Niño Fidencio. ISBN 9789701810798. 

Persondata
Name	Fidencio, Nino
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	1898
Place of birth
Date of death	1938
Place of death