Aerial view of the surroundings of the Basilica of Guadalupe during the early morning of Dec. 12, 2022. / Credit: Video / Twitter capture by @Claudiashein
CNA Newsroom, Dec 15, 2022 / 14:30 pm (CNA).
A historic number of 12.5 million pilgrims visited Our Lady of Guadalupe at her shrine in Mexico City in recent days, authorities have confirmed.
In a Dec. 13 statement, the Mexico City Government Secretariat said the Mexican capital “received 12,500,000 pilgrims at the Basilica of Guadalupe.”
This number, the agency stated, “broke the record for visitors.”
The Basilica of Guadalupe is the most visited Marian sanctuary in the world and even exceeds the number of pilgrims to Vatican City.
Traditionally, more than 10 million pilgrims begin to arrive in the Mexican capital in the first few days of December from different corners of the country, in many cases walking.
Once in the Marian shrine, the devotees contemplate and pray before the image that miraculously appeared on the tilma of the indigenous St. Juan Diego on Dec. 12, 1531.
The pilgrimages reach their peak on the night of Dec. 11, when hundreds of thousands fill the basilica and its atrium to sing “Las Mañanitas” to the Virgin of Guadalupe, a traditional Mexican song for birthday celebrations.
Many of the pilgrims who arrive at the Basilica of Guadalupe spend the night in the atrium.
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 and 2021, pilgrimages were suspended and devotees were not allowed to spend the night outside the church.
The Government Secretariat of Mexico City stressed that the days of pilgrimages took place “in peace and with a blank balance sheet,” that is, without injuries or incidents.
“It is important to highlight the exemplary conduct of the parishioners, whose safety was protected from Dec. 8 to 13 through the Basilica 2022 Operation ‘Welcome Pilgrim,’ implemented by the Government of Mexico City,” the secretariat said.
Apparitions of Our Lady of Guadalupe
The Virgin of Guadalupe appeared to the Aztec St. Juan Diego from Dec. 9-12, 1531, and asked him to intercede with the first bishop of Mexico, the Franciscan Friar Juan de Zumárraga, for a church to be built on the flat area at the foot of Tepeyac Hill.
As proof of the authenticity of the apparition, the Virgin Mary told the native to bring the flowers of a rose bush that miraculously appeared on arid Tepeyac Hill to the bishop.
When St. Juan Diego presented the flowers to the bishop, his tilma, the cloak in which he carried them, bore the image of the Virgin of Guadalupe, and the bishop authorized the construction of the church.
The image of the Virgin, full of symbols that could be read by the Mexican indigenous people, promoted the evangelization of Mexico, facilitating millions of conversions in the following years.
The tilma of St. Juan Diego with the image of Our Lady of Guadalupe shows no signs of deterioration after almost 500 years and is kept in the Basilica of Guadalupe in Mexico City.
In 1921, a government employee, in the prelude to a wide scale persecution of the Catholic Church, attempted to destroy the image with dynamite concealed in a floral arrangement placed on the altar in front of the image. The explosion caused no damage to the miraculous image of Our Lady, and the glass protecting the image of Our Lady wasn’t even broken, although there was extensive damage to the rest of the church.
This story was first published by ACI Prensa, CNA’s Spanish-language news partner. It has been translated and adapted by CNA.
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Pope Francis opens the Holy Door in L’Aquila, Italy, on Aug. 28, 2022. / Credit: Daniel Ibanez/CNA
Vatican City, Aug 2, 2024 / 06:00 am (CNA).
The Dicastery for Evangelization issued a note on Thursday reaffirming that the Holy Doors of the 2025 Jubilee of Hope in Rome will be located at the four papal basilicas as well as at a prison.
The Jubilee of Hope will take place from Dec. 24, 2024 — Christmas Eve — to Jan. 6, 2026, the feast of the Epiphany.
The Holy Doors will be located at the Basilica of St. Peter, the Archbasilica of St. John Lateran, the Basilica of St. Mary Major, and the Basilica of St. Paul Outside the Walls. A fifth door will also be located at a prison, the name of which has not yet been announced.
The five Holy Doors were specified by Pope Francis when he officially proclaimed the 2025 Ordinary Jubilee through his bull of indiction, Spes Non Confundit (“Hope Does Not Disappoint”) on the feast of the Ascension on May 9.
The first Holy Door will be opened by Pope Francis at St. Peter’s Basilica on Christmas Eve this year to usher in the beginning of the Jubilee Year worldwide. This door will be the last one to be closed on the feast of the Epiphany in 2026, marking the end of the holy year.
The Archbasilica of St. John Lateran will be the second door opened by Pope Francis — on Dec. 29, the feast of the Holy Family of Jesus, Mary, and Joseph. The Holy Father will then open the Holy Door at the Basilica of St. Mary Major on the solemnity of Mary, Mother of God, on Jan. 1, and then on Jan. 5 he will open the Holy Door at the Basilica of St. Paul Outside the Walls. These three papal basilicas will all be closed on Dec. 28, 2025.
The Dicastery for Evangelization has not yet specified the location or dates for the opening or closing of the Holy Door at a Rome prison.
In his papal bull, the Holy Father expressed his wish that prisoners “look to the future with hope and a renewed sense of confidence” during the Jubilee Year.
The note released by the dicastery’s Section for Fundamental Questions regarding Evangelization in the World did not mention the opening of any other Holy Doors within Italy or abroad but issued further guidelines for the granting and use of the Jubilee 2025 indulgence when visiting cathedrals, international and national shrines, and other significant places of worship outside of Rome.
The Decree of the Apostolic Penitentiary released on May 13, mentioned in the Aug. 1 note, states that the Catholic faithful who wish to live “this moment of grace in its fullness” can obtain the 2025 Jubilee indulgence in three main ways: pilgrimages, pious visits to sacred places, and works of mercy and penance.
The upcoming holy year will be the 28th jubilee celebrated in the Catholic Church and comes 10 years after Pope Francis opened the extraordinary Jubilee Year of Mercy in 2015. That year, Holy Doors had been erected in basilicas and sacred sites in 40 different countries.
A view of the separation wall between Israel and the Palestinian Territories from behind a window in the Comboni Sisters’ house in East Jerusalem. / Credit: Marinella Bandini
Jerusalem, Feb 17, 2024 / 06:00 am (CNA).
The Comboni Sisters have been living on the border of East Jerusalem since 1967. Running along the border of their property is a wall, constructed by the Israelis in 2009, dividing the village of Bethany/al-Eizariya — renowned as the site of the resurrection of Lazarus. The sisters’ residence remains on the Israeli side, while the church and the tomb of Lazarus are on the Palestinian side, on the other side of the wall.
“For us, the passage from Scripture that says ‘in Christ the wall of separation between peoples has been broken down’ is very powerful [Eph 2:14], especially when there is a physical wall in front of us that clearly indicates this separation,” Sister Anna Maria Sgaramella, provincial councilor and coordinator of the Middle East Zone for the Comboni Sisters, told CNA.
Sister Anna Maria Sgaramella, provincial council and coordinator of the Middle East Zone for the Comboni Sisters. Credit: Marinella Bandini
Sgaramella arrived in Jerusalem for the first time on Sept. 26, 2000. The very next day, the second intifada — a major uprising by Palestinians against Israeli occupation — erupted. She witnessed the siege of the Basilica of the Nativity in Bethlehem, where she taught theology.
Later, she was transferred to Egypt, where in 2011, she witnessed the uprising known as the “Arab Spring.”
Since 2013, Sgaramella has permanently returned to Jerusalem and now faces another long and bloody conflict. “I have always been struck by the deep sense of hope and determination to move forward among the Palestinian people. With this war, I see it weaker; people are more exhausted,” she said.
A view of the separation wall between Israel and the Palestinian Territories from the terrace of the Comboni Sisters’ house in East Jerusalem. The wall, constructed by the Israelis in 2009, runs along the border of their property, dividing the village of Bethany/al-Eizariya in two, believed to be the site of the miracle of the raising of Lazarus. The sisters’ residence remains on the Israeli side, while the church and the tomb of Lazarus are on the other side of the wall. Credit: Marinella Bandini
There are currently six Comboni Sisters in Jerusalem and each is involved in a specific ministry. They usually come together for morning Mass and evening vespers as well as for meetings and reflection. Their community house is open to religious individuals seeking periods of study or discernment and serves as a center of spirituality for both the congregation and the local Church. The sisters host educational workshops and spiritual exercises as well as welcome pilgrims.
The Comboni Sisters in Jerusalem in a recent photo at the Jordan River. The Comboni Sisters’ community in Jerusalem currently consists of six sisters and each is involved in a specific ministry. Credit: Photo courtesy of Sister Anna Maria Sgaramella
Sgaramella shared with CNA what it’s like to live on the border.
“With the construction of the wall, we found ourselves in the middle, between Palestinians and Israelis,” she explained. “The Palestinians attempt to bypass the wall — especially to pray at the Dome of the Rock — while the Israelis try to repel them in an endless game.”
“Being in the middle is a physical position that has also become a spiritual one,” Sgaramella continued. “We had to reflect and decided to ‘stay in the middle,’ between these two peoples, to serve as a bridge between them. By placing ourselves in the middle, we listen to the injustice faced by the Palestinians and also to the fears of Israeli families.”
For this reason, the religious community has chosen to maintain a small presence in the Palestinian area. Two sisters reside in an apartment beyond the wall, about 100 feet from the Comboni Sisters’ residence.
The exterior of the Comboni Sisters’ house in East Jerusalem where the Comboni Sisters have been living since 1967. Credit: Marinella Bandini
“We desired to stay and share the lives of those people and accompany the small remaining Christian community there. Every time they need to reach the community, they have to travel 18 kilometers [about 11 miles] passing through the Israeli checkpoint,” Sgaramella explained.
The sisters do not do this simply in the spirit of altruism, explained Sgaramella, who is also involved in ecumenical and interreligious dialogue. “We understood from the beginning that being in the middle comes at a cost. It often means getting hit from both sides. On one hand, there are stones and Molotov cocktails from the Palestinians that land on our property; on the other hand, we are under the smoke of tear gas launched in response by the Israelis,” she said.
One incident happened the night of Oct. 6, just hours before the Hamas attack on Israel. Some Molotov cocktails landed on the synthetic grass in the part of the property that houses the kindergarten, causing a fire — the signs of which are still visible today. The fire destroyed the grass, playground equipment, and blackened the recently painted wall.
The exterior of the kindergarten, housed on the Comboni Sisters’ property. In the background is the separation wall that was erected on the edge of the Comboni Sisters’ property in 2009.
The kindergarten is a work that the Comboni Sisters have been carrying out since their arrival and today it serves as an important point of connection with the surrounding community. This significance has grown, especially after the construction of the wall.
“The presence of the kindergarten has never been questioned, neither with the wall nor with the war,” said Sgaramella, who is the director. The kindergarten is attended by approximately 40 children, all of whom are Muslims, divided into two classes. Formally, it is under the jurisdiction of the Palestinian Ministry of Education. “It is a project that meets the needs of the people; furthermore, episodes of violence never occur during the day when the children are present,” she added.
Sister Anna Maria Sgaramella of the Comboni Sisters talks with the children in one of the kindergarten classes hosted at their home in East Jerusalem. The presence of the kindergarten has never been questioned, said Sgaramella, the director. Credit: Marinella Bandini
Every morning, the children begin with a prayer. “We tell the parents right from the start,” Sgaramella explained. “It’s a prayer of thanksgiving for what God has created, for the day, for life, a blessing for parents, neighbors, friends, and also for children who suffer. We pray for peace in the world and in this country.”
Regarding the families, she shared: “There is great trust and respect. They usually choose to send their children here, especially for moral education and English-language instruction.”
Most of the children come from East Jerusalem, but some also come from al-Eizariya. One of the two teachers, Nihal Hashmime, who is also the vice director, has to pass through the checkpoint every day to get to work.
“With the war,” the sister told CNA, “we faced some educational challenges because initially, some children were absent. The work we do with them is to impart certain values, such as peace, friendship, love, and respect for differences.”
Play is also an important aspect. “Children here do not find toy weapons, and they are not allowed to bring them from home,” Sgaramella said.
“Our attempt in education and all other activities is to break down this wall that leads to seeing the other as an enemy,” Sgaramella said. “Sometimes it is difficult to recognize the universality of salvation. We know that Jesus died for everyone, but in certain conflict-ridden contexts, it is challenging to acknowledge the other as a brother. Personally, the field of teaching theology provides me with the space to build bridges among believers. Because in every religion, there are sincere believers seeking truth.”
Fr. Juan Antonio Guerrero Alves. / Office of Communication Society of Jesus.
Vatican City, Jun 25, 2021 / 08:10 am (CNA).
The Vatican’s economic chief has asked Catholics to make donations to Peter’s Pence ahead of the worldwide annual collectio… […]
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