How did Our Lady of Guadalupe become a bridge between Indigenous beliefs and Catholicism?

"Our Lady of Guadalupe, also known as the Virgin of Guadalupe, is a title for a particular image of Mary, Mother of Jesus, as she appeared in the New World in the years after the Spanish conquest of Mexico. A beloved symbol of mercy, acceptance, healing, salvation, and rebellion, her advent in the Americas dramatically altered the course of Catholicism in the New World, and her basilica in Mexico City draws around 15 million people every year."

"The sculpture, which is still the focus of her shrine, is made of cedar wood and depicts a dark-skinned woman dressed in elaborately embroidered finery, her garments covered in precious jewels and her head framed with a huge halo of gold. On her left side, her infant son sits on her lap, similarly clothed in splendor. The mother and son are so richly dressed that only the skin of their faces and hands are visible."

Our Lady of Guadalupe is a Marian title tied to an image of Mary that appeared in the New World after the Spanish conquest of Mexico. The figure symbolizes mercy, acceptance, healing, salvation, and rebellion. Her advent reshaped Catholic practice across the Americas and her Mexico City basilica attracts about 15 million pilgrims annually. Devotion to her moved beyond religious worship into nationalism and political and social movements, making her central to Mexican heritage and identity. A Spanish Guadalupe in Extremadura, linked to the Reconquista and the fight against the Moors, featured a cedar sculpture of a dark-skinned, elaborately dressed mother and child.

Read at World History Encyclopedia