Preparing for a Historic Jubilee

In 2031, the Church will mark the 500th anniversary of the apparitions of Our Lady of Guadalupe to Saint Juan Diego on Tepeyac Hill in what is now Mexico City. The original tilma (the cactus-fiber cloak on which Mary’s image was miraculously imprinted) remains preserved and venerated at the Basilica of Our Lady of Guadalupe.

This anniversary is the focus of the Intercontinental Guadalupe Novena (2022–2031), a nine-year journey of preparation called for by Pope Francis. The novena seeks profound spiritual renewal, unity under Mary’s protection, and a recovery of dignity and hope across the Americas.

As part of the novena’s 2025–2028 strategic plan, the U.S. bishops have published the pastoral initiative “One Tilma, One Heart: Walking with Our Lady of Guadalupe in the Footsteps of Saint Juan Diego.” Its goal is to foster a re-encounter with God through Our Lady of Guadalupe and to renew the social and ecclesial fabric of communities in celebration of the Guadalupan Event.

The Tilma Initiative in the United States

Following a recent historic meeting at the Shrine of Our Lady of Guadalupe in Mexico City, bishops from Mexico, the United States, and Canada carried home faithful replicas of the tilma. Under the U.S. plan:

• Every diocese in the United States will receive a replica of St. Juan Diego’s tilma (printed on similar cloth; those touched to the original are treated as third-class relics).
• The image will first be solemnly enthroned in the diocesan cathedral (or another site designated by the bishop).
• Beginning in 2027, the tilma will travel for approximately two years through parishes and “contemporary Tepeyacs” — places marked by suffering, exclusion, migration, and violence.
• Local missionaries called Juandieguitos (“little Juan Diegos”) will accompany the image, listen to community needs, facilitate encounters with Mary, and help establish “sacred little houses” as centers of welcome, reconciliation, listening, and Guadalupan formation.
• Activities will include pilgrimages, service, catechesis, collection of intentions as “Guadalupan roses,” and concrete works of peace and social healing.

The tilma is presented not merely as a devotional object but as a living catechetical witness and instrument of evangelization. It wraps the faithful in Mary’s presence, carries their worries (as Juan Diego carried the roses), and manifests divine presence in the simplicity of everyday life. Mary’s message remains simple and tender: “Am I not here, I who am your mother?”

Archdiocesan Participation

Information regarding specific local participation in the celebrations, enthronements, and missionary journeys will be forthcoming. Local details including schedules for the reception and travel of the tilma, formation opportunities, and how the faithful can become involved as Juandieguitos or support the sacred little houses will be announced as plans are finalized.

Hoped-for Fruits

Drawing on Pope Francis’s words at the beginning of the novena (December 12, 2022) and in the Jubilee Bull Spes non confundit, the initiative aims for:

• Renewal of Christocentric faith through Marian mediation
• Revitalization of communities with a synodal spirit
• Reconciliation and peace amid violence and polarization
• Stronger social commitment to care for one another
• Strengthening of cultural identity (especially Hispanic/Latino)
• A Church that reaches the peripheries
• A network of Marian-Guadalupan shrines as “sacred places of welcome and privileged spaces for the rebirth of hope