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Catholics carry torch, raise awareness of immigrants 2003-11-21 Tuscaloosa News By Katherine Lee
On Saturday evening, a group of runners from Mississippi will arrive in Tuscaloosa, carrying a torch that burns in honor of the Virgin of Guadalupe. The runners will hand off the torch to members of Tuscaloosa's Catholic community at Holy Spirit Catholic Church, the latest leg in a 4,000-mile journey. The torch has had a longer journey since it left Mexico City on Oct. 12. It has been carried by runners across the border into the United States, and will arrive at its final destination in New York on Dec. 12, where it will be taken to St. Patrick Cathedral for the feast day of the Virgin of Guadalupe. The event, in its sixth year, is being sponsored by Asociacion Tepeyac, a New York-based organization that advocates immigrant rights. The Tuscaloosa Hispanic community was invited to participate in the run for the first time, a sign that the local community is growing in size and influence, said organizer Francisco Reyes. "The Catholic people at Holy Spirit Church wanted to be part of this," he said. Reyes said the group decided to get involved in the event for two main reasons. "The first is to put forth our belief in Our Lady of Guadalupe. The second is to call attention to the history of Hispanic immigrants in this country," he said. The runners from Mississippi will arrive in Tuscaloosa Saturday evening, in time for Mass and celebration at Holy Spirit at 6 p.m. Sunday morning at 7, a group of about 30 runners from Tuscaloosa will take the torch along Alabama Highway 11 to St. Paul's Cathedral in Birmingham, where it will be handed off to runners there. The torch's eventual route will take it to New York via Washington, D.C., where the organizers plan to use it to call lawmakers' attention to immigration issues.
The Virgin of Guadalupe, often called the "patroness of the Americas," is considered a central figure in Mexico's cultural identity. According to legend, the Virgin Mary appeared to a Mexican convert named Juan Diego in 1591, telling him she wanted a church built on Tepeyac hill. As proof of her appearance, she told Juan Diego to pick the roses that bloomed on the hill and present them to the bishop. When Juan Diego unrolled before the bishop the cloak in which he had carried the roses, there appeared a perfect image of the Virgin Mary. The miracle was officially recognized by the Vatican in 1745. "She is a wonderful symbol of the coming together of diverse cultures into one people and one faith," said Sister Madeleine Contorno of Holy Spirit Catholic Church, a runner in Sunday's event. "The Virgin of Guadalupe is a pregnant virgin, so I see her in a way giving birth to the Mexican people, but I see her giving birth to a new reality of different nationalities who become one in their diversity." Contorno said she signed on to run a few miles because she wanted to support the growing local Hispanic community. While the event is billed as a cultural experience, it is also political. One of Asociacion Tepeyac's goals is to draw attention to the plight of immigrants, most of them Mexican, who cross the border into the United States. The organization is lobbying to change current immigration laws. Contorno said that advocacy is another reason she wanted to join the run. "I think we need to change the immigration laws and recognize the work of those who are here with us and the people here in our church," she said. "That is the great tragedy of Mexican families divided by immigration strictures." Contorno said her one regret about the arrival of the runners is the timing. The Mississippi runners are scheduled to arrive in Tuscaloosa just as the Alabama-Auburn football game gets under way in Auburn. "No one will be paying attention," she said. "They'll either be at home or at the game. When they called and said they were coming Nov. 22, I thought, `This is just the worst time they could pick,' because of course, I'd like to see a big crowd." Source: |
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