Just because Gregg loves to see religious tat (inevitable kitsch and/or bad taste) we visited the Basilica of the Virgin of Guadalupe – the most venerated shrine in the whole of Mexico and only second to St Peter’s in Rome for the whole of the Catholic Church. It was here that in 1531 that, allegedly, the Virgin Mary appeared three times to a local native Mexica named Juan Diego and imprinted her image on his cloak. The cloak is preserved, set in gold and is venerated by the faithful on a moving walkway – there are so many of them that if they were allowed to stop there would be pandemonium 20 million come every year! It is surely no coincidence that the place where the Virgin Mary allegedly appeared was a native Mexica shrine to Mother Earth.
Again it was fascinating to see the traditions merging – so much so that the whole Basilica exists as a shrine to Mary and St Juan Diego (the native Mexica who was made a saint by the late Pope) not to Jesus or God. The crib scene had Mary dressed in a rather alluring fluorescent pink garment standing next to an orange cow. Gregg’s love religious tat satisfied we moved on.
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