Laura Fernández inaugurates her presidency of Costa Rica with a Mass in the Basilica of the Angels

The new president of Costa Rica, Laura Fernández Delgado, wanted to begin her term politically under a marked religious sign. Before the first major government announcements and the consolidation of her new Executive, the leader went to the Basilica of Our Lady of the Angels, in Cartago, to participate in a Holy Mass with which she entrusted her administration “to God and to the Virgin of the Angels”.

The ceremony, held in the country’s main Marian sanctuary, brought together political leaders, members of the new cabinet, ecclesiastical representatives, and numerous faithful. The image of the new president entering the basilica with her collaborators was interpreted in Costa Rica as a gesture of continuity with the deep national religious tradition.

The Virgin of the Angels, popularly known as “La Negrita”, is the patroness of Costa Rica and constitutes one of the most important religious symbols of Hispanoamerica. Every year millions of pilgrims flock to Cartago during the traditional pilgrimage on August 2, one of the most massive manifestations of popular religiosity on the continent.

Laura Fernández’s gesture also comes at a time of religious transformation in Costa Rica. Although the country constitutionally maintains Catholicism as the official state religion, Costa Rican society has been experiencing for years a significant growth in evangelicalism and Pentecostal churches.

The most recent studies still place Catholicism as the main religious denomination in the country, with approximately half of the population identifying as Catholic, while evangelicals already range between 27% and 33% according to various recent university and opinion polls. Evangelical growth has been particularly strong among young people and popular sectors, progressively altering Costa Rica’s traditional religious map.

The political dimension of this religious change is not minor. In recent years, evangelical churches have gained social and electoral influence in various countries of Hispanoamerica, including Costa Rica, where moral and religious issues have acquired growing weight in the public debate.

With her presence in the Basilica of the Angels, Laura Fernández sought to project an image of institutional rootedness and closeness to the country’s historical identity, in a nation where faith continues to occupy a relevant space in public life despite the advance of secularization and other Lutheran denominations.