Pope To Honor Mexican La Virgincita

          By The Associated Press

          MEXICO CITY (AP) -- Her serene face graces grungy mechanics' shops, dizzying high-rise
          construction sites, whitewashed shrines along lonely highways.

          The faithful crawl to her on bloodied knees. Parents name babies for her. Cab drivers seek her
          protection with dashboard stickers.

          She is Our Lady of Guadalupe, the olive-skinned Virgin Mary whose reported appearance to an
          Aztec peasant in 1531 turned millions of polytheist Indians into Roman Catholics, and who for many
          sits at the root of Mexico's national identity and its contemporary faith.

          When Pope John Paul II makes his fourth visit to Mexico this month, he again will honor ``La
          Virgincita'' -- ``The Little Virgin'' -- by celebrating Mass in the church where her mysterious image is
          housed.

          The 5 1/2-by-3 1/2-foot image of Mary is said to have appeared miraculously on the cloak worn by
          the peasant, Juan Diego.

          Many would like to see John Paul declare Juan Diego a saint during his Jan. 22-26 visit. It almost
          certainly will be the pope's last to Mexico, a country for which he has always had a special fondness.

          During his second visit in 1990, John Paul beatified Juan Diego, the step before full sainthood. He
          reportedly intended to announce Juan Diego's canonization this month, but will have to wait until at
          least next year for the process to be completed.

          Juan Homero Hernandez, a Mexico City doctor who is one of the leading proponents of sainthood
          for Juan Diego, said a Vatican panel has yet to rule on a 1990 event that believers say was a miracle
          credited to Juan Diego: the recovery of a Mexican man who made a suicide leap from a building,
          cracking open the back of his skull.

          Regardless, the faithful say John Paul has honored the Virgin of Guadalupe in other ways. He was
          the first pontiff to visit her Mexico City shrine in 1979, and in 1992 he dedicated a chapel in St.
          Peter's Basilica to her, placing her image next to the tomb of the first pope.

          ``The pope is a Marianist pope,'' Hernandez said. ``The Virgin of Guadalupe fits in well with his
          ideas because she conquered half the world, introducing church teaching and culture without killing.''

          The unthreatening image of Mary as passed down in the story of her appearance has wide appeal.

          The dark-haired Virgin Mary is said to have spoken softly to Juan Diego in his native Nahuatl
          language, insisting that Mexico's Indians were among her children, and the simple peasant her chosen
          messenger.

          ``The theme that the native and mestizo (mixed-race) peoples recognized in her greeting to Juan
          Diego declared her intention to be accessible not only to Mexico but to all the human family,'' said
          Ed Sylvest, a theology professor at Southern Methodist University who has studied the Virgin of
          Guadalupe.

          ``She is a humble woman who is one of us, and I think that has a great deal to do with the affection
          and appreciation,'' he said.

          Mexican leaders largely have embraced her image ever since 1810 when Miguel Hidalgo, the priest
          who sparked Mexico's break from Spain, carried it into battle. Supporters of the modern-day
          Zapatista rebels in southern Chiapas state have honored her, as have rock stars.

          On the Dec. 12 anniversary of the apparition, Mexicans dress their children as Indian peasants,
          painting Juan Diego-like beards on little boys, and television stations broadcast movies about the
          event and miracles attributed to the Virgin of Guadalupe.

          Mexican boys and girls born on the date almost invariably are named Guadalupe. ``It is the greatest
          thing that could have happened for my child,'' said Rosario Coria Valencia, whose chubby-cheeked
          3-year-old daughter is so named.

          Veneration of the Virgin of Guadalupe has spread across the Americas, notably by emigrant
          Mexicans and their descendants. Former U.S. Rep. Bob Dornan of California dedicated his 1998
          campaign to her, a move many saw as an attempt to lure Hispanic support from the eventual winner,
          Democrat Loretta Sanchez.

          Millions of tourists and faithful travel to the basilica each year, making it the world's second most
          popular Catholic site after the Vatican. Devoted pilgrims walk hundreds of miles to the shrine, many
          crossing the concrete plaza on their knees.

          Dr. Manuel Lopez Sanchez stands outside the basilica in his white coat six days a week, treating
          pilgrims suffering heart problems, heat stroke or dehydration for free.

          ``They arrive greatly fatigued but with a strong will and great happiness to see her,'' he said.

          Their faith has remained fervent despite skepticism that the story is a myth created by 16th century
          church leaders to convert the Aztecs and weaken a brewing insurgency.

          Critics note the apparition took place at a site that had been used to honor the Indian deity
          Tonantzin, the ``Mother God.''

          In 1996, Monsignor Guillermo Schulenburg, the abbot who oversaw the basilica for three decades,
          resigned amid a public furor over reports that he had called Juan Diego ``a symbol, not a reality.''

          Tiny shrines to Our Lady of Guadalupe stand in homes, shops, even parking garages.

          A shrine at one Mexico City taxi stand is seen as a talisman of protection against robbers. Others are
          simply an expression of faith.

          Juan Armando Fonseco, a maintenance supervisor at Mexico City's Espana Park, was taken aback
          when asked why the park has two shrines.

          ``Well, what religion are you?'' he asked. ``We, as Mexicans, believe.''