Millions of Catholic pilgrims arrive at basilica in Mexico

Reuters Videos
2 年前

STORY: The festival features two days of lavish pageantry capped by a midnight mass led by Mexico's senior archbishop. Many pilgrims arrive at the historic basilica on their knees in prayer or carrying statues of the Virgin.

An estimated 3.1 million pilgrims arrived at the basilica in recent days, Mexico City government officials said on Sunday, with still more expected on Monday.

The Basilica of Our Lady of Guadalupe is the second most visited Catholic shrine in the world after St. Peter's Basilica in Rome. It was constructed next to a hill in northern Mexico City where Catholics believe Mary, the mother of Jesus, appeared to an Aztec man in 1531, an event that is credited with launching Mexico's Catholic conversion.