Vatican gathers Latin American clergy in Rome on Dec 12 for Guadalupe feast, linking Virgin’s message to new doctrinal note and synodal mission.
Newsroom (11/12/2025 Gaudium Press ) On the feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe, December 12, the Vatican will host an unprecedented day of reflection that places the Virgin of Tepeyac at the heart of contemporary evangelization in the Americas. Organized by the Pontifical Commission for Latin America (CAL), the gathering brings together priests, religious sisters, and seminarians from across the continent who are studying in Rome, offering them a privileged space to explore the enduring relevance of the 1531 apparitions to St. Juan Diego.
The timing is deliberate. The event coincides not only with the Guadalupan feast but also with the anniversary of the episcopal ordination of Pope Leo XIV, who will preside at a 4:00 p.m. Mass in St. Peter’s Basilica in honor of Our Lady of Guadalupe—one of his first major gestures toward the Latin American community in Rome.
At the center of the day’s discussions stands the consoling maternal promise Mary spoke in Nahuatl to Juan Diego: “Do not let your heart be troubled. Am I not here, I who am your mother?” For Fr. Stefano Cecchin, OFM, president of the Pontifical International Marian Academy, these words retain extraordinary power “in the context of war and difficulties in the world we live in today.” The Franciscan scholar describes Guadalupe as “the Sinai of the Americas,” the place where, just as Israel was born as a people at Sinai, the Christian peoples of the New World received their spiritual identity.
“Mary appears not to frighten… but to bring peace and serenity,” Fr. Cecchin told journalists. “The message of Guadalupe is that whoever is with Mary should not be afraid.” He stressed the profoundly inculturated character of the apparition: the Virgin spoke in the indigenous language, wore the symbols of Aztec maternity, and left her image on Juan Diego’s tilma without erasing his native identity. “In Guadalupe we encounter the inculturation of God,” he said.
The conference also engages directly with the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith’s recent document Mater Populi Fidelis, which has provoked debate in some quarters for its proposed reinterpretation of certain traditional Marian titles and its approach to popular Mariology. Cardinal Víctor Manuel Fernández, Prefect of the Dicastery, will deliver the keynote address titled “Mary: Star of Evangelization and Mission for Latin America Today.”
Rodrigo Guerra, secretary of the Pontifical Commission for Latin America, explained that the gathering aims to foster a serene, evangelizing reception of the new doctrinal note. Far from creating distance, he said, the document surprisingly highlights Our Lady of Guadalupe in two paragraphs as an exemplary model of authentic popular devotion that can teach the universal Church how to face today’s missionary challenges.
An academic panel will follow the cardinal’s lecture. Fr. Cecchin will explore Guadalupe’s contribution to a balanced Mariology. Bishop Luis Marín de San Martín, Under-Secretary of the Synod of Bishops, will examine the connection between the Virgin Mary and synodality, underscoring Mary’s role as “the perfect example of a Christian, of a disciple—always prophetically engaged with reality.” The Spanish Augustinian Recollect emphasized that deeper reflection on the Marian mystery is essential for understanding the synodal and missionary Church, and that the Mother of God remains fundamental for recovering the identity and value of women within ecclesial life.
The day will close with a presentation by Rodrigo Guerra and the solemn Mass presided over by Pope Leo XIV.
For organizers, the December 12 meeting is more than an academic exercise. It is an invitation to the entire Church to rediscover in the Guadalupan event a message of maternal closeness, cultural respect, and fearless hope—precisely the spiritual resources Latin America and the world need today. As Fr. Cecchin summarized: “We want everyone to embrace it… Guadalupe is the Sinai of the Americas.”
- Raju Hasmukh with files from ACI Prensa
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