About martyrdoms and priests: medicine and building the Jesuit-Guarani reductions (XVII century)

Abstract

This article broaches the involvement of the Jesuit missionaries with the attendance of ill Indians, understood as practice that confers sense and relevance to apostolate and through which they can reach their edification by salvation of the Indian souls. The effort to cure the illnesses, that compromised the reach of this objective, stays evinced in the use of the American pharmacopeia and therapeutic practices, in spite of the denial of their traditional ceremonial effectiveness.