CATHOLICS IN MEXICO SPLIT ON NEWEST SAINT
by Stan Griffin

Pope John Paul II is scheduled to canonize (officially declare a saint) Juan Diego, a Mexican Indian, on July 30, 2002 in what will probably be the longest Mass ever held in the Catholic Church Archdiocese of Mexico City. About 80% of the Mexican people are Catholic.

According to legend, in 1531 Juan Diego carried a message from a "dark-skinned Virgin" to the bishop in Mexico City. That message was: build a shrine in her honor so she could protect the Mexican people. Today the Virgin of Guadalupe is Mexico's patron saint. A large church complex in northern Mexico City is dedicated to her.

The officially adopted image of Juan Diego appears to have undergone a change. In it his native features and his dark skin-tone have been altered so that his look is more European. He has longer hair, a full beard, is kneeling in prayer, and holding the Pope's hand.

A controversy has evolved over Juan Diego's "new look." Critics say it smacks of "modern marketing" and that he comes off as an "urban Catholic." They maintain the wrong message is being sent to Indian believers and that the Church has "abandoned the indigenous (native) world."

Catholic Church officials say the image was drawn from paintings that are centuries old and is "more representative" of Mexico's 100 million people. One churchman was quoted as saying: "We see ourselves represented there in Juan Diego. He is not white, he is brown."

Indian protesters have said the Church has "turned its back on Indian believers" and the "Westernization of the image of Juan Diego was part of that (action)."