Guadalupe expert appointed to lead Mexico’s preparations for 500th anniversary of apparitions

Father Eduardo Chávez has been named representative of the Primate Archdiocese of Mexico for the celebrations of the fifth centenary of the apparitions of Our Lady of Guadalupe, which will take place in 2031.

In a letter signed on Sept. 22, Cardinal Carlos Aguiar Retes, primate archbishop of Mexico, appointed Chávez, the magisterial Guadalupan theologian of the Basilica of Guadalupe in Mexico City, “representative of this particular church, especially in everything concerning the content of this marvelous Guadalupan event, in the preparation and in the celebrations of the fifth centenary of the apparitions of Holy Mary of Tepeyac.”

He said he made the decision in light of Chávez’s “preparation and experience in the subject of the Guadalupan event.”

In the letter, the cardinal recognized the Mexican priest’s work as postulator of the cause of St. Juan Diego, the visionary of Our Lady of Guadalupe, as well as his leadership of the Higher Institute of Guadalupan Studies, which for more than 25 years has borne “fruit in continuing research, in the formation of formators, and in spreading the message of love to so many peoples.”

“May God, Our Lady of Guadalupe, and St. Juan…