Guadalupan Torch Run 2002 Mexico-New York 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, And 2002 For the first time an Historic Event, the run will Bring the Torch from the Basilica of Guadalupe in Mexico City to St. Patrick's Cathedral in New York City.

Guadalupan Torch Run passes from Mexico to Greenville en route to New York
By Deb Richardson-Moore
STAFF WRITER
[email protected]

In Mexico and in New York, a torch run has become tradition for the Dec. 12 Catholic holy day, the Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe.

Runners light their torches at the Basilica of Guadalupe in Mexico City -- or St. Patrick's Cathedral in New York City -- then rush them to outlying Catholic parishes in a show of pride and faith in the individual communities.

But this year, Cardinal Edward Egan challenged runners to carry a torch from Mexico City to New York -- 3,133 miles in 45 days. They'll pass through Greenville Friday, where St. Mary's Catholic Church will welcome them with a mariachi band, a Mass and a reception.

Besides the religious observance, organizers from the Asociacion Tepeyac de New York hope to raise support for better wages and working conditions for immigrants, and to seek legal status for undocumented aliens.

"Taking the torch is like bringing the light of hope to the whole Hispanic community," said the Rev. Diego Ferro, director of Hispanic missions at St. Mary's. "They are also praying for a miracle, that some day they will get an amnesty for our illegals who are here."

Mexicans make up 57 percent of the Hispanic population in the United States, Ferro said. St. Mary's counts 480 Hispanic families among its membership, and offers two Spanish Masses each weekend.

In Catholicism, Our Lady of Guadalupe is revered as Mary, mother of God, who appeared to a poor Indian in 1531 at Tepeyac, a hill northwest of Mexico City. She instructed Juan Diego to have the bishop build a temple on the site and left an image of herself on his cactus cloth.

Miracles, cures and interventions were subsequently attributed to her, and 10 million people annually visit her Basilica in Mexico City.

The torch journey began Oct. 29 with a Mass and torch-lighting in the Basilica before runners headed for the U.S. border at Brownsville, Texas. On Nov. 6, 150 members of a 200-strong group stopped there because they didn't have work visas, according to the San Antonio Express-News.

Eight original runners from Mexico City are still on the trek, and are relieved or joined by local runners along the way, said Miguel Banda of Greenville. He has lined up 24 local runners to carry the torch approximately 110 miles through Anderson, Greenville and Spartanburg counties, but said he still needs more.

"This is very special for us, mainly the Mexican community," Banda said. "They started running in Mexico City and it's the same flame. It has not been turned off."

Deb Richardson-Moore writes about religion. She can be reached at 298-4127.

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Ana Guevara

Ana Gabriela Guevara  (www.latinmex.com), athlete from Sonora State, Mexico, major athletic promoter and a proud representative of Mexico, shows her solidarity with Mexicans and other Latino immigrants to the United States by confirming that on October 29, 20002, she will be at the Basilica of the Virgin of Guadalupe in Mexico City, at 9:00 AM, to launch the International Guadalupan Torch Run. Her participation will promote the message of dignity for a people divided by the border, a message that will be brought on foot by relay runners, all the way to New York City on December 12, 2002, via 45 cities (9 in Mexico and 36 on the East Cost of the United States) where hundreds of thousands of Mexicans have migrated.

Alex Lora

Likewise, Alex Lora of  Mexican urban rock band, “El Tri”, (www.rockska.com/eltri.html), and devout follower of the Virgin of Guadalupe, has confirmed he will take his turn at the Basilica of Guadalupe on October 29, the launch of the torch run, and that he will sing to the Virgin of Guadalupe so she might give strength to the messengers who will run relays to promote the message of dignity for the millions of undocumented Mexicans who live in the United States.Alex lora the singer of one of the best Mexican Rock Band " El Tri" will be in the Basilica of Guadalupe on October 29 at 9:00 Am.