On the eve of December 12, more than ten million pilgrims flooded the streets of Tepeyac, transforming Mexico City into a human river of rosaries, devotions, and songs. The mass of “Las mañanitas”, presided over by Monsignor Joseph Spiteri, apostolic nuncio in Mexico, transmitted the greetings and blessing of Pope Leo XIV, on a night that broke attendance records for the faithful. A night of apparent hope and unity, as ecclesiastical chronicles relate; however, behind this joy and songs, the Basilica of Guadalupe is experiencing a situation that deserves the attention of the entire Church of Mexico: Its arbitrary and irresponsible management, the web of shady alliances, and the establishment of a canonical investigation that could uncover an internal cesspool.
In recent days, a brave and unprecedented denunciation from the basilica’s chapter was the institutionalized cry for help. In a letter, the canons exposed to the primate archbishop a pattern of arbitrariness in the administration of the most important sanctuary in Latin America and the world, all handled without any transparency, without clear accountability, nor audits that dispel doubts.
This opaque financial flow not only violates principles of good ecclesiastical governance but also betrays the trust of the faithful who see in Guadalupe not a business, but a spiritual refuge. The chapter, legitimate guardian of this patrimony, warns of irresponsible decisions that put at risk the spiritual and material patrimony of the Basilica, with undue control and handling of sensitive documents and an administration that has lost all pastoral compass. This is not a minor complaint: it is the institutional voice of the college of canons against a personal fiefdom that betrays evangelical poverty and profanes the sacred.
All these irregularities point towards a potential responsible party: the rector of the Basilica. Around him, «advisors» and characters of dubious reputation wove a network of suspicious businesses under the shelter of Guadalupan devotion, a true overbearing mafia that intimidated and enriched at the expense of popular faith, privileging simony. A previous canonical investigation (IP 17/2025), opened on October 3, aims to clarify how far corruption has permeated. To carry out those inquiries, the separation from office of the canon rector was decreed, prohibiting him from belonging to the chapter and applying disciplinary measures while the matter is investigated to the bottom.
However, the complicit silence and the poor communicative handling have exacerbated the chaos. In the absence of clear statements, keyboard opinion-makers and conspiracy talk shows have proliferated, weaving an unrestrained paranoid network of lies: from Vatican plot theories to infamies against the entire chapter. This yellow journalism hysteria, fueled by social networks and sensationalist media, no longer seeks the truth, but clicks, fame, and vendettas. It does not transmit objectivity, but confusion that poisons the well of Guadalupan faith, such as the dissemination that the Basilica rector is a fugitive with a prior investigation order before the Federal Prosecutor’s Office. Nothing could be further from the truth. There are no indications of criminal investigations nor files opened by the Federal Prosecutor’s Office against the rector or canons. The former rector remains in the precinct, exercising divested of his offices and canonries but not of the priestly ministry.
This crisis is a debacle that must have immediate clarification. Cardinal Carlos Aguiar Retes, primate archbishop, bears an ineludible responsibility. Before the 500 years of the apparitions in 2031—a jubilee that could revitalize Latin American faith—, there is no room for patches or half-truths. The Holy See must clarify the situation with effective independent apostolic intervention, with full powers to purge finances, dismiss those involved, and restore transparency before Aguiar’s handover in his next succession. Only then will Tepeyac recover its light, not as a facade of imposed unity, but as a bulwark of truth and hope.
The Virgin of Guadalupe deserves no less. She, who united worlds in 1531, calls for a Church that does not fear looking in the mirror. Millions sang her mañanitas this week, but without sanitizing this rot, those voices will be drowned by scandalous meanness. It is time to act and for the Holy See and the bishops of Mexico to impose order. For Guadalupe, for Mexico because, in these moments of history, faith in Holy Mary of Guadalupe is the purest thing that keeps us united amid so much polarization, lies, and deceptions. Mother of the Savior, save our homeland and preserve our faith!