December 14th marks the 150th anniversary of the arrival of Don Bosco's first missionary expedition to Argentina . The evangelizing mission of the Catholic Salesian Order, with its significant presence in Patagonia, was much more than a religious endeavor; it was a continental geopolitical strategy driven by the Vatican and the Argentine State to ensure the supremacy of Catholicism and, on the other hand, to displace Indigenous peoples, occupy their lands, and, in that context, establish sovereignty in the far south.

Thus, the installation of the Salesian Congregation of Don Bosco in Patagonia coincided with an urgent need: the assertion of Argentine sovereignty and the expansion of Catholic evangelization in the face of the advance of British Anglican missions in the South Atlantic.

In the 19th century, the presence of the South American Missionary Society (SAMS) in the Malvina Islands (1854) and its settlement in Ushuaia (1869) was interpreted by the Catholic Church and the Argentine State as a threat to national sovereignty . These Protestant missions, linked to British imperial power, acted as a civil and cultural outpost in disputed territories.

The evidence is clear: the role of the Vatican (through Propaganda Fide ) and the Argentine Curia was decisive in "marking Catholic territory" .

Occupation, evangelization, and sovereignty

The alliance was solidified after the "Conquest of the Desert" of 1879, led by General Julio Argentino Roca . The Argentine state, in need of a civilizing and colonizing force to consolidate its control over the vast territories recently annexed, found in the Salesians the ideal partner.

The Salesians Juan Cagliero and José Fagnano became key figures in this effective occupation. The religious men accompanied Roca's army in 1879 and strategically positioned themselves in locations such as Carmen de Patagones (1880). Their mission was structured around three fundamental axes: converting the surviving indigenous peoples (Tehuelche, Mapuche, Selk'nam); founding schools and centers for youth and immigrant settlers; and acting as agents of Argentinian identity , establishing the country's Catholic and cultural hegemony in the south, especially with the founding of the Mission of Our Lady of Candelaria in Río Grande (1893), in Tierra del Fuego.

Throughout all of this, a clear principle of evangelizing policy prevailed: the defense of the faith and Argentine sovereignty in the south.

Saints eat and devils shit

Today, 150 years after the first Salesians established themselves as a cultural and religious bulwark against the Empire , the celebration of this iconic anniversary is overshadowed by the decisions of the current governor of Argentina's southernmost province, the Salesian Gustavo Melella . A political opportunist, he is facilitating the penetration of British strategic interests into the Tierra del Fuego territory.

Contrary to all the actions that could be expected of a Salesian, Melella allowed Harbour Energy, a British-owned company and legal successor to Premier Oil, to enter the consortium that exploits the Austral Marine Basin 1 oil contracts. Premier Oil was sanctioned for violating numerous Argentine laws due to its operations with an illegal license from the British colony in the Malvina Islands and its participation in the Sea Lion field, as the owner of 60% of the shares.

To help violate the law, the Fuegian Government authorized a cover-up maneuver; that Harbour Energy use the German company Wintershall Dea (whose assets it acquired) as a "rubber stamp" for the share acquisition in the Austral Marine Basin 1 (CMA-1), hiding its British identity.

The irony runs deeper: the same British company, under the Wintershall Dea brand, is one of the financial contributors to the 150th anniversary celebrations of the Salesian Order , whose early commemoration is taking place this Saturday, November 8th, and Sunday, November 9th, at the Salesian Mission of Our Lady of Candelaria in the city of Río Grande . Thus, the governor allows the economic power that his fellow Salesians once fought against with the crucifix to now finance their commemoration while they establish themselves on the Tierra del Fuego continental shelf.

What will the men and women of the Christian faith think; the Salesians themselves? What will Saint John Bosco convey to them, seeing a son of his order facilitating the delivery of resources and infrastructure to the very imperial power that he set out to combat from the gospel, with the founding of his mission in 1875?