At a time marked by division, several US bishops wrote 11 December that the patronage of Our Lady of Guadalupe, patroness of the Americas, is “a powerful reminder that we are all called to be one in Christ Jesus, beginning from the moment of our conception.”
In a reflection released on the eve of the 12 December feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe, several committee chairs of the US Conference of Catholic Bishops (representing the Committee on Migration, Committee on Pro-Life Activities, Subcommittee on the Pastoral Care of Migrants, Refugees, and Travelers, and Ad Hoc Committee Against Racism) wrote about the particular significance that “La Virgen” holds for the country in these times — noting that the Virgin Mary carries a “special significance” for immigrants as well as the unborn.
“With one clear voice, we reaffirm our unwavering and unqualified recognition of the fact that each and every human life is sacred, that all persons are imbued by God with an inviolable dignity, which no earthly power can deny,” they said.
“The sinful ideologies of racism and xenophobia are antithetical to these core teachings of our Christian faith. No person formed by and committed to the Gospel of Life can harbour such views in good conscience.”
The feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe is celebrated in honour of Mary’s appearance to Juan Diego Cuauhtlatoatzin in four visions in 1531.
After the fourth vision, she left her miraculous image on his tilma, a cloak, which is still venerated to this day in Mexico City.
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