Information service of the Pontifical Mission Societies since 1927
Mexico City (Agenzia Fides) - On July 31, the Mexican Church will celebrate the tenth anniversary of the canonization of St. Juan Diego Cuauhtlatoatzin, known in Catholic history for "the Guadalupan event," which took place in 1531.
The celebration of the first decade of the beatification of Juan Diego, will begin at 10 am with a tribute on the esplanade of the ancient parish of the Indians, at the Shrine of Guadalupe, where the remains of Juan Diego are kept. At noon, the Archbishop Primate of Mexico, Cardinal Norberto Rivera Carrera, will celebrate a Mass in the main atrium of the Basilica of Guadalupe.
In his fifth and last visit to Mexico, Blessed John Paul II canonized Juan Diego in a Mass celebrated on July 31, 2002, in the Basilica of Guadalupe. During the homily, John Paul II said: "Juan Diego, on welcoming the Christian message without giving up his indigenous identity, discovered the profound truth of the new humanity, in which all are called to be children of God Thus he facilitated the fruitful meeting of two worlds and became the protagonist of the new Mexican identity, closely united to Our Lady of Guadalupe."
Juan Diego was born in 1474 in the municipality of Cuauhtitlan, in the State of Mexico, and belonged to the lowest class of the people of Aztec indigenous descent. He died at the age of 74 on May 30, 1548. (CE) (Agenzia Fides 30/07/2012)
