Mexico City -- Millions of weary Mexicans who began flocking here on cycles and on bloodied knees to celebrate the annual feast tomorrow of the Virgin of Guadalupe had extra reasons to bear the pains and strains. The dark Virgin, Mexico's patron saint, is under assault.
Virgin "Miracle" Image of 1531 Now Under Doubt
[Original headline: Virgin of Guadalupe drawn into unholy dispute]
In the ecclesiastical equivalent of a coup d'etat, three Mexican prelates recently cast doubt on a "miracle" that is the cornerstone of Mexico's faith: the appearance of the Virgin to a poor Indian, Juan Diego, in 1531.
They have sought to prevent Pope John Paul II canonising Diego, a man whose humble origins and dark skin endear him to Mexicans, whose Indian heritage has been stigmatised since the Spanish conquest.
In Mexico there had been three institutions traditionally above rebuke: the president, the army and the Virgin of Guadalupe. The first two have come crashing off their pedestals, but the Virgin is still worshipped with an abiding reverence - 7m pilgrims are expected to honour her tomorrow, bearing her image across Mexico to be sprinkled with holy water.
So the actions of Guillermo Schulenburg, a former abbot of the Basilica in Mexico City, where the Virgin's shrine sits, have aroused widespread anger.
Mgr Schulenburg, 83, was one of the three who sent a letter to the Pope, leaked to the press this month, urging the Vatican to suspend canonisation because of doubts about Diego's existence.
"For 33 years [Mgr Schulenburg] headed the Basilica and never said anything. Now he comes out with this nonsense. The only way you can explain it is he must have known he was defrauding the Mexican people," said Lourds Herrera, a well-dressed woman bearing her hobbling husband on her arm to the Basilica.
Some specialists believe the abbot may have a point. Even worshippers are confused about whether the "miracle" - when the image of the Virgin appeared on Diego's cloak, triggering a mass conversion of Indians across Mexico - is legend or not.
But that has not spared Mgr Schulenburg. He has been accused of profiting hugely from the Basilica, the world's most popular Roman Catholic pilgrimage site outside the Vatican, and enjoying, in his retirement, flashy sports cars and a passion for golf.
Even Carlos Santana, the Mexican-born rock guitarist, weighed in ahead of a rare concert in Mexico last night. He spoke of a "visitation" from the Virgin during a recent visit to his birthplace.
[Source published: December 11 1999]
