Archbishop's web site Denver Catholic Register Parishes Catholic Pastoral Center
July 31, 2002
Priests say new saint represents 'all who face injustice'
Canonization of Juan Diego acknowledges the importance of indigenous people
By Maria Luisa Torres
For Father Eduardo Chavez Sanchez and Msgr. Jose Luis Guerrero Rosado, today's canonization of Blessed Juan Diego is a particularly joyous occasion.
The priests from Mexico City, who recently visited Los Angeles to speak with local university students about the ceremony, played a key role in uncovering the final pieces of historical documentation needed to help bring the long-awaited canonization to fruition.
According to Father Chavez, the first canonization of an indigenous person in the Americas represents, in part, the long-overdue recognition of the importance of indigenous people within the Catholic tradition.
"This canonization is very important, because Juan Diego will become the first native Indian from the Americas to be canonized," Father Chavez told The Tidings, the newspaper of the Archdiocese of Los Angeles. "This is important because, as an Indian, Juan Diego represents all of those people who are marginalized, those facing difficult situations, those facing injustice."
However, he cautioned, this should not be mistaken as the belated victory — or revenge — of one sector of society over another. Rather, he added, Juan Diego being canonized "represents unity because that was the message conveyed by Our Lady of Guadalupe through her choice of a faithful, humble messenger like Juan Diego."
"When we carry in our hearts this sense of unity, this harmony of seeing one another as members of God's one family, logically everything else falls into place," he said.
"The act of seeing one another as brothers — the act of recognizing our inherent dignity as God's children — fosters peace and justice," added Father Chavez, who presented Blessed Juan Diego as a candidate for canonization to the pope during the July 31 Mass at the Basilica of Our Lady of Guadalupe in Mexico City.
Tomorrow, the pope is to beatify the Indian martyrs Juan Bautista and Jacinto de los Angeles, two lay leaders killed in 1700.
"These will be historic moments, important moments, and large pilgrimages are already under way from all over Mexico," said Father Chavez.
The papal visit drew several million pilgrims to the Mexican capital, although only a fraction of them were allowed into the basilica, which is the most popular religious pilgrimage site in the Western Hemisphere. The basilica was built on the site where Juan Diego, a Nahuatl Indian who converted to Catholicism, saw the Virgin Mary in December 1531.
Centuries later, Juan Diego's tilma, a poncho-like cloak made of cactus fiber bearing the widely venerated image of Our Lady of Guadalupe, remains enshrined at the basilica.
In response to doubts expressed over the years by skeptics questioning whether Juan Diego actually existed, Father Chavez said, "If (someone) isn't familiar with the historical documents regarding the existence of Juan Diego, then it's logical that (they) might open (their) heart to doubt."
"But," he added, "because we've had the blessing of being on this historical commission, and we have on hand the historical documentation proving Juan Diego lived, we know that it's true — and his existence is so certain that the pope is going to canonize him."
Oddly enough, said Father Chavez with a smile, the controversy surrounding Juan Diego's canonization has actually had at least one unexpected benefit: "Bringing attention to the cause — and making Juan Diego, and Our Lady of Guadalupe more widely known among Catholics the world over."
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