Faith on Foot

There are those who don’t believe that the Virgin appeared to Diego or that the painting on the tilma was divinely created. And of course there are those who doubt that Tonantzin ever appeared to Mexicas. But the pilgrims who travel to the Villa appear to have few doubts. The Catholic pilgrims go to venerate the Virgin Mary; Indigenous groups go to venerate Tonantzin; and Indigenous Catholics go to venerate both. It makes for an interesting mixture of sights and sounds, especially on the Día de la Virgen de Guadalupe. ...“We dance to honor the Virgin,” said Bernardino Garcia Garcia. “I am a Catholic and I am an Indigenous. For us, Tonantzin and the Virgin are the same. Tonantzin is the Virgin and the Virgin is Tonantzin. There is no conflict: para nada.” Javier Castillo Castillo, a dancer in the other group, pointed out that Indigenous Mexicans who aren’t Catholic typically don’t enter the basilica. “We are Catholic,” he said, “so we enter.”