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Recently, the Vatican canonized 27 Mexicans Catholics. This raised the number of Mexican saints from one (not including Santa Guadalupe) to twenty-eight. Twenty-five of these saints died as martyrs during the government sanctioned religious persecution that lasted in Mexico from 1915 through 1937. The Cristeros fought against the anti-church laws of the government, both violently and peacefully. Over 20,000 Mexicans attended the ceremony. New saints included the virgin Maria de Jesus Sacramentado Venegas, founder of the Congregation of the Daughters of the Sacred Heart. She lived for 90 years and is the first female Mexican saint. José Maria de Yermo y Parres (1851-1904) founded schools, hospitals, nursing homes, orphanages and the Congregation of the Servants of the Sacred Heart of Jesus and the Poor. Many of the saints personified the intended Christian spirit of service and helped establish vital Catholic institutions. However, no contribution aided the Catholic church so much as Juan Diego's insistence that the 1531 apparition of Virgin Mary must be listened to. This would eventually lead to a tidal wave of conversion that would sweep the indigenous population. Unfortunately, Juan Diego was not present among the new saints.
Last year, Father Guillermo Schulenberg sent a letter to the Vatican disputing the very existence of Juan Diego. Juan Diego, a humble native convert to Catholicism, is credited with having the first apparition vision of the Virgin Mary recognized by the Vatican. As the story goes, Juan Diego has the vision of a dark olive skinned Virgin Mary. After the local bishop disputes the likelihood of the vision several times, Juan Diego persists. Finally, after Juan Diego receives a final vision he walks before the bishop and lays out his tilma (a cape made from cactus fibers). Spanish roses fell to the ground, surrounding the image of Guadalupe imbedded forever in the cloak. After almost 500 years, the image remains on a cloak that should have deteriorated by now. This account was documented several ways, including the Nican Mopohua. This gospel was written in the native Aztec tongue, Náhuatl. Father Schulenberg, and many other critics, contend that Juan Diego is a myth and the vision is an excuse to worship the mother goddess Tonantzin. The same goddess whose temple was first destroyed when the Spanish discovered her in Tepeyac. Tepeyac, where a shrine to the mother Mary was built years later.
A great deal of Christian doctrine is built on tradition. This includes the Catholic, Orthodox, Protestant and Orisha. The most orthodox religion vary depending on the local culture. Only so much information is given to us directly from our deities. Everything else is made from men and women passing oral tradition and gospels to the next generation. And eventually the indigenous melts with the conquistador. The Latino mestizo is a bitter sweet mixture of Indigenous glory, African spirit and Spanish conquest. It's fitting that our dominant religion has such a rich history of mixing conquered gods.
The Vatican has said Juan Diego will likely be canonized when the Pope makes a trip to Mexico this fall. They must, however, make an honest effort to examine whether Juan Diego was a fraud. Let's go back one-thousand and one-hundred years to examine the possibilities. In 431, the Christian Council of Ephesus (Turkey) declared Mary to be Theotokos, God-bearer. Ephesus just happened to be the location of the temple of goddess Diana (Artemis), one of the seven wonders of the world. Diana was known as the Mother of All and the Queen of Heaven. In the same town where Mary is said to have lived her final days and where Diana was Holy Mother, the Council put into Christian doctrine that a Mary was our connection to the divine. Mary became the Mother of God and the Queen of Heaven.
It's possible that the indigenous people of Mexico found a way to continue worshipping their own goddess. Many Mexicans and Mexican-Americans who cherish Tonantzin will tell you that is exactly what happened. They will tell you how their goddess found a way to survive and how the indigenous people of the land helped to save her. Others treat them both as a single saint or an Orisha, gently melting the two identities into one figure of faith. It's also possible that the Turkish followers of Diana found a way to do the same a millennium ago. The Vatican isn't likely to denounce the existence of Juan Diego, or his motives. His perseverence to acknowledge the signs of God have been a standard of Catholic Latino character for over 500 years. Brazil and Mexico hold the largest Catholic populations, followed by the United States. To disturb the icon that started the Catholic explosion would injure Catholicism's place in Latin America.
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