ARGENTINA: Maternoster

The 30-day official period of mourning for Eva Perón ended last week, and President Juan Perón made his first public appearance since Evita’s death to dedicate a big new suburban hospital named for her. As he arrived, the crowd automatically took up the old chant “Perón-Evita!” Then, in the first address of the ceremony, Peronista official Lorenzo Garcia invoked the absent Evita with a new phrase. His opening words: “Our mother who art in heaven . . .”