SCOTT SIMON, HOST:
Pope Francis was the first non-European pope in more than a thousand years. In Mexico, he was beloved for being Latino and also, as NPR's Eyder Peralta reports, for a special encounter with the Virgin of Guadalupe.
(SOUNDBITE OF CHURCH BELL RINGING)
EYDER PERALTA, BYLINE: The Basilica of Our Lady of Guadalupe here in Mexico City is the most important Catholic shrine in the Americas. The church sits at the foot of Tepeyac Hill, where in 1531, Catholics believe the Virgin Mary appeared before Juan Diego, an Indigenous man. She left her image on his mantle and helped play a part in the mass conversion of Latin America. Millions come here every year to stand before that mantle. Sister Candelaria Garcia Alvarez had just left the church and had stopped to pay her respects in front of a picture of Pope Francis. She says she remembers what the virgin told Juan Diego. Let not your heart be sad. I am here. I am your mother.
CANDELARIA GARCIA ALVAREZ: (Speaking Spanish).
PERALTA: "And so I think we all find that refuge here," she says.
In 2016, Pope Francis gave a mass here. Afterward, he did what millions of Latin Americans do. He brought the virgin flowers. Father Daniel Preciado (ph) was there that day.
DANIEL PRECIADO: (Speaking Spanish).
PERALTA: He sat silently in front of her image for some 20 minutes. He adds, jokingly, until they basically told him it was time to go. Pope Francis was already beloved because he was Latino. But that moment, said Father Preciado, sealed a bond. Latin Americans from the whole continent flocked to this shrine at some of their toughest moments, praying for a miracle and hoping for comfort, and here was a pope doing exactly the same thing.
PRECIADO: (Speaking Spanish).
PERALTA: He knew because of the tough mission ahead he needed protection from the Virgin Mary.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)
UNIDENTIFIED PERSON: (Singing) Hallelujah, hallelujah, hallelujah.
PERALTA: At the basilica, they've hung a huge picture of the pope showing his moment with the virgin. In front of his portrait outside, they've given him the same yellow roses he brought the virgin. Benjamin Cordova Garcia (ph) said the encounter reminded him of a Mexican proverb.
BENJAMIN CORDOVA GARCIA: (Speaking Spanish).
PERALTA: "We say whoever loves the mother loves her children," he says, "and he showed such respect and honor and affection to our mother."
GARCIA: (Speaking Spanish).
PERALTA: "It made us feel," he says, "like he was just one of our brothers."
Eyder Peralta, NPR News, Mexico City. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
NPR transcripts are created on a rush deadline by an NPR contractor. This text may not be in its final form and may be updated or revised in the future. Accuracy and availability may vary. The authoritative record of NPR’s programming is the audio record.
