But there is a gap between the intricate filigree of his spiritual quest and a one-dimensional public image.  Ask most Chileans what he represents and they will cite his charity work, recalling how he sought out the homeless under the bridges of the Mapocho to offer them a bed in the Hogar, or his knack for loosening the purse strings of the well-off to endow new projects for the poor.

In short, he is made to resemble that "caring person" so beloved of a culture which craves saints who are simple and kind.  But examination of his career and concerns makes the picture far richer - and rather less comfortable.

This was a man who declared that either Christianity "means an entire life of giving, a transformation in Christ, or it is a ridiculous parody worthy of laughter and scorn", hardly a cosy sentiment.  The poet, Gabriela Mistral, called him a "natural Franciscan"; his life story suggests that more apt still might be the altogether trickier epithet, a "natural Jesuit".