12 December is an important day for Mexicans. It celebrates the feast of the Virgin of Guadalupe, patron saint of Mexico and the Americas.
It is also one of the pope’s favourite devotions. Pope Francis himself presides over a Mass in the Vatican every year on this day. This year, 2024, he will do it again. It will be in St Peter’s Basilica at six in the evening.
In 2023, during the homily, he pointed out that the image of Guadalupe and her message cannot be used for ideologies or for profit.
“Her message defends us from so many social and political ideologies with which, so often, this Guadalupe reality is used to justify itself, to justify itself and to make money,” pope Francis said.
“The Guadalupe message does not tolerate ideologies of any kind. Only the image, the tilma, the roses.”
St Peter’s Basilica is usually filled on this day with pilgrims from all over the world, especially from Latin America.
One of the most moving moments is when, at the end of the mass, the choir sings the hymn of “La Guadalupana.”
