Thousands of devotees flood Mexico City for Virgin of Guadalupe pilgrimage

MEXICO CITY (AP) — Devotees of Mexico’s patron saint, the Virgin of Guadalupe, flooded streets overnight near the capital’s Basilica of Our Lady of Guadalupe, carrying images of her on their backs and converging with music, bottle rockets, candles and prayers.

Some say that every Dec. 12, all roads in Mexico lead to the enormous circular Roman Catholic church where the faithful come to show their devotion on the anniversary of the apparition of the Virgin Mary in 1531, one of the largest Catholic pilgrimages in Latin America.

Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum said she had spoken with Pope Leo XIV Friday to invite him to visit the country. She wrote on the social platform X that the pontiff had “sent blessings and greetings to all.”

“We agree that beyond the religion that each person professes and the laity of the state, the Virgin of Guadalupe is a symbol of identity and peace for Mexicans,” she wrote.

Leo celebrated a Mass Friday at the Vatican in honor of Mexico’s patron saint.

The previous night, even before the crowd began to sing the traditional Mexican birthday song “Las Mañanitas,” thousands of people already covered the expansive square outside the basilica. Streams of people continued to pour in.

Images of the Guadalupana, as she is popularly known, filled the square, including the taco stands where tired pilgrims stopped to regain their strength.

“We came to ask for health,” said Gladys López, who walked with her teen daughter and seven other family members from San Felipe Teotlalcingo, some 62 miles (100 kilometers) east of the capital in Puebla state. “We wanted my daughter to see her and we all came from our town.”

The exhaustion and sleeping on the ground were worth it, López said, as she prepared to cover the last few yards of their journey.

Some waited for a priest to come out and bless their Virgin figurines. Some tearfully lit candles, overcome with emotion.

José Luis González Paredes, 82, carried an image of the Virgin adorned with flowers. He has been making the annual pilgrimage for more than three decades to receive the blessing.

“I am only going to ask that (the Virgin) allows me to bring her again next year and gives me the health to endure the journey,” he said.

According to church tradition, in 1531, the Virgin appeared to the Indigenous peasant Juan Diego when her image was imprinted on his cloak, which is on display inside the church. Juan Diego was made a saint in 2002 by Pope John Paul II.

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