Information service of the Pontifical Mission Societies since 1927
Guadalajara (Agenzia Fides) - On February 5 the feast of Saint Felipe de Gesù Mexico’s first martyr, the archdiocese of Guadalajara will resume work on a new Shrine dedicated to the Mexican Martyrs starting with a special Mass presided by Cardinal Juan Sandoval Iñiguez Archbishop Guadalajara at 11am. The Archbishop gave two reasons for building o the Shrine: to honour and keep alive the memory of the martyrs; secondly the archdiocese of Guadalajara needs a place for holding large liturgical celebrations frequent in this mainly Catholic city. The new church will seat 12,000 people inside and about 38,000 outside in the square.
The church dedicated to the Mexican Martyrs will be a national shrine. So far Mexico has 26 martyr saints and 24 beatified martyrs including missionaries in Japan and Mexico and martyrs during religious persecution in the 20th century in Mexico. The church will have a spiritual value as a symbol of loyalty to Christ and the perseverance and value of martyrs. It will be in Guadalajara, because many of the martyrs were from here and it was Guadalajara diocese which contacted the Holy See to promote the causes for beatification and canonisation. The Shrine complex will include charity centres such as the diocesan Caritas Centre, a hospital, a school of nursing mainly to enable single women or unmarried mothers to earn a living, a hostel and canteen for pilgrims and poor people, and also conference halls for lay movement gatherings. (RG) (Agenzia Fides 24/1/2007; righe 23, parole 331)
