Believers in Virgin Defend Legend, Lady in Question

Father Hilario Cisneros of Our Lady of Guadalupe Church in Oxnard remembers the day some of his parishioners came to him wanting to know if those awful rumors were true.

Was it true, they asked, that a Mexican abbott questioned whether the Virgin of Guadalupe appeared before a humble Indian named Juan Diego nearly 465 years ago? They wondered how anyone could question the Virgin’s authenticity.

After all, her image is worshiped in places from the holy to the commonplace. She shines in a golden halo, decorating Catholic churches worldwide, just as her image hangs from the rearview mirrors of taxicab drivers and adorns the bulging biceps of reverential tough guys in the barrio.

Churches in Oxnard and Santa Paula bear her name. Portraits of her, caped in a sky-blue cloth covered with golden stars, hang above altars in several churches in the county, including the San Buenaventura Mission and St. Mary Magdalen Chapel in Camarillo.

For Cisneros, the flap provides an occasion to talk with his parishioners about the Virgin and their faith in her existence.

Some Catholics are examining their long-held beliefs. Yet believers in La Magnifica say they are undeterred. If anything, the controversy helped to solidify people’s faith in the Virgin, said Cisneros.

“We are a people with faith,” Cisneros said. “The Virgin is a symbol of unity and identity among the Mexican, Mexican American and Chicano populations. That is why [the controversy] did not affect people’s faith. . . . When something like that is questioned, it helps us to grow in our beliefs.”

According to church history, in December 1531 the Virgin appeared before Juan Diego on a hilltop, told him that she was the mother of Christ and asked that he build a church in her honor at that spot. When Juan Diego told a local bishop what he had witnessed, the bishop asked for proof.

Later the same month, the Virgin told Juan Diego to gather roses that had inexplicably grown on the barren hilltop. Roses do not usually grow in December. The young man then picked the roses and wrapped them in his cloak, but when he showed the roses to the doubting bishop, he found a painting of the Virgin on the cloak. Nearly 500 years later, a cloak made of cactus threads, believed to be that of Juan Diego, is on display at the basilica in Mexico City.

But in June, Abbott Guillermo Schulemberg of the Basilica of Guadalupe in Mexico City was widely quoted as saying that Juan Diego never existed and that he is a symbol, not a reality.

The remarks, which the abbott has since denied making, shook many Mexicans and Mexican Americans, who fervently believe the Virgin appeared before the poor Indian.

For them, the brown-skinned Virgin is not only the mother of Christ, but she has become a symbol of patriotism. She is, after all, the patron saint of Latin America.

“For me, she is the mother of Christ, and denying her apparition to Juan Diego would be like denying that my mother exists,” said Oxnard resident Marcial Custodi, who has been attending Our Lady of Guadalupe Church for 16 years.

Luz Cuevas, who is a parishioner at Our Lady of Guadalupe Church in Santa Paula, said the statements attributed to the abbott are insignificant. Cuevas said she has paid no heed to his remarks, and her fellow parishioners did not discuss the issue in church.

“I believe in her no matter what the world says,” said Cuevas. “It really doesn’t matter to me. I respect her and all the saints with all my heart.”

One way to settle the question, Catholics say, would be for the Vatican to grant sainthood to Juan Diego.

But they may have to wait a long time. According to Father Gregory Coiro, spokesman for the Archdiocese of Los Angeles, it can take centuries for a person to be canonized because it takes more than one miraculous incident to earn sainthood.

Coiro said the expression of faith among some Ventura County Catholics is not unusual. “I think it shows the strong faith of the Catholic people and the Mexican people in the care and protection of our Lady of Guadalupe.”

Guillermina Chavolla said she can always count on the Virgin to give her a helping hand.

“Every time I ask for her help, she gives it to me, and she has always protected my family,” said Chavolla, who attends the Oxnard church. “Juan Diego deserves to be a saint. He was chosen by her to tell us about her existence.”

Among Catholics who are not of Mexican origin, the Virgin of Guadalupe does not hold as much significance, but worshipers like Frank Zalusky said he is offended by remarks that question the Virgin’s appearance.

“The whole idea is to create doubt,” said Zalusky, who has worshiped at St. Magdalen since 1947. “But people who have faith don’t doubt.”