US Bishops Discuss Joining Intercontinental Guadalupan Novena

She is the Queen and Patroness of the Americas! Of course, the United States should join in any events leading up to the 500th anniversary of Her appearance.

From Aleteia

By Joanne McPortland

Preparing for the 500th anniversary of Our Lady of Guadalupe's appearance, Mexican bishops have invited US participation in an ongoing "Guadalupan Novena of years."

In 2022, Pope Francis called for a 9-year Guadalupan Novena to prepare for the 500th anniversary of Our Lady's 1531 appearance at Tepeyac in Mexico. Last year, the Mexican Bishops' Conference joined the Vatican's Pontifical Council for Latin America in inviting the USCCB to join the novena for its final years, culminating in the 2031 fifth centenary.

The US bishops discussed this invitation at their spring plenary session in Orlando, recently concluded.

It makes sense. Under her title of Patroness of the Americas, Our Lady of Guadalupe is venerated not only in Mexico but among Catholics of Mexican descent and people of all ethnicities in the United States. As Bishop Robert Brennan of Brooklyn, chair of the USCCB's Committee on Cultural Diversity, told his brother bishops this week, "We will celebrate 500 years since the appearance of Our Lady of Guadalupe, and at the same time, all of the graces we continue even now to experience under her patronage.”

Bishop Oscar Cantu of San Jose, California, who heads the USCCB Subcommittee on Hispanic and Latino Affairs, led the discussion at the plenary session. As EWTN News reported:

[Bishop] Cantu said bishops should reflect and ask, “How do we take the methodology that Mary used 500 years ago and adapt it to our own needs in the culture … in the 21st century here in the United States?” [Bishop] Cantu said bishops should consider not “only the message but the methodology of Mary.”

“There is much depth to be plumbed for us in our dioceses and our communities in these five years that remain for this novena,” Bishop Cantu said.

The Guadalupan Novena: A plan of action

Bishop Cantu presented the assembled bishops with a three-phase plan for US involvement in the Guadalupan Novena, which would be woven into existing pastoral activities.

Phase 1 focuses on missionary activity in dioceses and parishes. The subcommittee proposed supplying each US ordinary (a bishop who heads a diocese) with a replica of St. Juan Diego's tilma, the roughly woven cloak upon which the image of Our Lady of Guadalupe miraculously appeared. The original is displayed for veneration in the Basilica of Our Lady of Guadalupe in Mexico City, where it draws millions of the faithful each year.

Bishop Cantu explained that the replicas of the tilma would be touched to the original, making them third-class relics. The hope is that bishops would display the tilma replicas in their cathedrals or in another suitable place for the duration of the Guadalupan Novena. “The tilma can be used as a missionary presence to journey from parish to parish, or to key places in each diocese,” Bishop Cantu said.

This first phase of the pastoral plan would culminate with the next National Eucharistic Congress, scheduled for 2029.

Phase 2 would span the time between the National Eucharistic Congress and the Guadalupe quincentennial in 2031. This phase would include pilgrimages of the tilma replica from parish to parish within each diocese.

The final phase would be focused on celebration of two great jubilees -- the 500th anniversary of Our Lady of Guadalupe's appearance in 2031, and the great jubilee of 2,000 years of salvation in 2033.

Still in the planning

The USCCB will consider the subcommittee's proposal and provide feedback. Bishop Cantu knows that however the plans for Guadalupan Novana participation may evolve, one thing is certain: the US will have a celebration of the 5th centenary.

“We already know there will be an international celebration in Mexico City” and “we know that Pope Leo has been invited to participate,” Cantu said. “He has not responded yet … But weʼre pretty sure that he will be there.”

In his presentation, Bishop Cantu recalled Pope Leo XIV's words to the Theological Congress in Mexico City in February of this year, when the Holy Father called Our Lady of Guadalupe a lesson on the inculturation of the Gospel: "'La Morenita manifests God's way of drawing close to his people,' Pope Leo said."

Bishop Cantu also quoted St. John Paul II's apostolic exhortation, Ecclesia in America:

“In blessed Mary, ... we see an impressive example of a perfectly inculturated evangelization.”

Those are words that should echo in our hearts as we seek to evangelize our own churches in the United States.

What do you think of the proposed US involvement in the Intercontinental Guadalupan Novena? How would you like to see US Catholics celebrate the 500th anniversary of Our Lady's appearance? Let us know in the comments.