Abstract

ROSAS-PAZ, Leonardo Daniel  and  PROPIN-FREJOMIL, Enrique. Identification of spatial interactions associated with the worship to Cristo Mojado (Wetback Christ) in the Saint Cecilia Catholic Church in Los Angeles, California, United States. Rev. Geog. Amer. Central [online]. 2022, n.68, pp.187-214. ISSN 2215-2563.  http://dx.doi.org/10.15359/rgac.68-1.7.

In 2003, migrants of Central American origin, illegally relocated to the city of Los Angeles, California, a replica of Señor de Esquipulas, a dark-skinned Christ of Guatemalan origin, which from then on came to be recognized as Cristo Mojado (translated as Wetback Christ). With its arrival at the Saint Cecilia Catholic Church, devotion to the image spread among other sectors of the population, who began to articulate social and spatial relationships whose impact is perceptible at different geographic-scalar levels. In this context, the present work makes use of the theory of spatial interaction to explain the above phenomenon and uses a qualitative research design to evidence, through descriptive-explanatory inquiry, the spatial importance of worship. Accordingly, information collection instruments, such as semi-structured interviews with key informants and participative observation, were employed during the patronal festival, celebrated in January 2018, and for the analysis of social media. The findings indicate that worship to Cristo Mojado, creates short- and long-distance spatial interactions, as a consequence of the cyclical movement of material goods, people and information.

Keywords : Spatial interaction; Religion; Cristo Mojado; Señor de Esquipulas; Los Angeles (California).

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