The devotion and emotion that Latino Catholics show for Our Lady of Guadalupe is the reflection of the passion that Latino culture brings to Roman Catholicism, according to an expert on Catholic doctrine.

So American Catholics should not be surprised if hundreds of faithful gather for the annual procession and Mass on Sunday, Dec. 8th, in downtown San Diego, in honor of the Morenita del Tepeyac, said Tim Staples, director of apologetics and evangelization of Catholic Answers, a non-profit organization in El Cajon that is dedicated to defending the Catholic faith.

“Mexican Catholics have brought with them a beautiful tradition full of love and passion for Our Lady,” Staples said.

“That emotion they feel is something that perhaps Catholics in the United States find strange, because here Catholic culture is more cold. But in Latin America it is normal to see these exciting displays of affection for the Virgin Mary.”
This year the procession will be on Sunday, December 8, starting at 10 a.m. at the St. Josepth Cathedral, located at 1528 4th Ave., and ending at Golden Hall, where at noon Bishop Cirilo Flores and Bishop Gilberto Chavez will celebrate a Marian Mass.

The Confederación Guada-lupana de San Diego, with the support of the Hispanic Commission, is the organization that coordinates the celebration. Parish groups and apostolic movements will carry their banners in the procession that will include floats.

“The celebration of the Virgin of Guadalupe is a great day for the Hispanic people and to all Catholics in the area of San Diego,” said Rodrigo Valdivia, chancellor of the Diocese of San Diego. “We celebrate not only the message of love and hope that La Morenita brings but also the gift of faith in his son Jesus that she helps us maintain and share.

The celebration of the apparition of Our Lady of Guadalupe goes back to December 12, 1531, when, according to Catholic tradition, the Virgin Mary appeared before a Mexican Indigenous man named Juan Diego. The image of La Guadalupana played an important role in the evangelization of indigenous peoples in the Americas.