Homily at the Canonization of Juan Diego Cuauhtlatoatzin
John Paul II31 July 2002
The homily preached by Pope John Paul II in the Basilica of Our Lady of Guadalupe, Mexico City, on 31 July 2002, when he declared Juan Diego a saint.
John Paul II preached this homily at the Mass in which he canonized Juan Diego, whom he calls the first indigenous saint of the American continent. It is cited here as the Catholic Church’s own statement, at its highest level, about Juan Diego and about the place of Our Lady of Guadalupe in Mexico and the Americas.
A canonization is an act of the Church’s teaching and worship. The homily speaks of the accounts of Guadalupe and of their meaning; it does not discuss the documentary questions that historians have raised.
Cited in
- 1531, traditional date