Archbishop Gallagher celebrates Mass at Our Lady of Guadalupe Shrine
By Deborah Castellano Lubov
We are called not just to admire Our Lady, but to imitate her radical openness to God’s plan, said Archbishop Paul Richard Gallagher, the Holy See's Secretary for Relations with States and Multilateral Organizations, during Mass at the Shrine of Our Lady of Guadalupe, Mexico City, on 27 July 2025.
During his homily, he stressed that it was a privilege for him to "come to this sacred and beloved shrine, where Heaven touched the earth and the Virgin of Nazareth came to be known in this land as Our Lady of Guadalupe."
The Archbishop expressed his joy and honor to celebrate the Mass together and to offer, on behalf of ĐÓMAPµĽş˝ Leo XIV, his Apostolic Blessing and closeness.
"Our Lady of Guadalupe is not only Mother of Mexico. She is Mother of the Americas. Mother of all. She unites what the world tries to divide. Her tilma bears not only her image, but her solidarity with the suffering and the marginalized. We are called not just to admire Our Lady, but to imitate her radical openness to God’s plan."
The Vatican official highlighted that they were all gathering under the protective gaze of the Mother of God who appeared to Juan Diego nearly five centuries ago and whose tender image continues to draw pilgrims from all over the world.
Well-known apparition with Our Lady's gentle strength
Archbishop Gallagher recalled the well known story of the apparition, when in 1531, just ten years after the conquest of Tenochtitlán, the Virgin Mary appeared to an indigenous convert, Juan Diego Cuauhtlatoatzin.
Reflecting on the affection of the Church in Mexico for the Blessed Mother, the Archbishop remembered it as "a local Church born not without tears, but also from faith and the gentle strength of Our Lady."
Gave lives for religious freedom
"Over the centuries, that faith," he remembered, "took deep root. So much so that, in the face of harsh persecution, the faithful stood firm." In this sense, he underscored, "we cannot fail to remember the faithful Catholics of the early 20th century—priests and laypeople alike—who gave their lives for religious freedom."
Yet, he stressed, this shrine is not only a place of memory, but also a missionary outpost. "The call remains alive here: to honor God, to love our neighbor, to protect life, to serve the poor, to welcome the migrant, to be a Church that is, in ĐÓMAPµĽş˝ Francis’s words, 'a field hospital,' offering mercy, healing, and hope."
Need to pray sincerely
The Archbishop explained that today we face many challenges, and that to overcome them, we need hearts that truly listen to God, and, most of all, we need the ability to pray sincerely.
"But Our Lady of Guadalupe," he noted, "shows us another way," for she speaks to Juan Diego as a mother, and "she doesn’t teach prayer with words, but with her presence, inviting us to become small, to trust, to listen..."
The Archbishop marveled how prayer—and the faith it nourishes—can lead us to forgiveness, which "are easy words to say, but hard to live."
We are children
However, Our Lady, he reassured, "helps us in this by showing us we are truly children—and indeed, brothers and sisters."
"In these times of fragmentation, where barriers are built faster than bridges," Archbishop Gallagher underscored, "we must let Guadalupe’s message shine again. The same Virgin who appeared on Tepeyac still walks with us. "
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