Our Lady of Guadalupe

A mural of the Virgin of Guadalupe enveloping Pope John Paul II adorns a wall in Los Angeles, California. (photo: Laurie Avocado/Flickr, cc by 2.0)

This past Monday, December 12,  millions of Catholics celebrated the Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe, the Marian patron of Mexico. It’s not just Mexicans who revere the tawny-skinned Virgin who first appeared in 1531 to an indigenous Aztec peasant and Catholic named Juan Diego Cuauhtlatoatzin. Across the Americas and beyond, the Virgin of Guadalupe has become a symbol of ethnic pride and resistance to oppression that transcends religious faith. In an interview with NPR, Friar Gilberto Cavazos-Gonzalez of Catholic Theological Union offered some context:: MORE…