The approved miracle for the canonization of Juan Diego Cuauhtlatoatzin

Summary:

Juan Diego, whose life is known to us thanks to a text dated 1556 and written in the Nahuatl language, was the first Roman Catholic indigenous saint from the Americas. Named as Cuauhtlatoatzin at birth ("the talking eagle"), he was a Nahua peasant. He was baptised in his fifties by one of the first missionaries to arrive in the country, a Franciscan priest. He lost his wife seven years later. It was at this time that the Virgin appeared to him several times on the hill of Tepeyac, near Mexico City (the first apparition took place on 9 December 1531). A shrine was built there, which to this day hosts the largest Catholic pilgrimage in the world after the Vatican (twenty million faithful a year).

In 1990, Juan José Barragan Silva was a young man in his twenties who had been hard hit by life's trials. He had been addicted to drugs for many months, and his mental and physical health was gradually declining. Unemployed, he wandered the streets of Mexico City and spent his time with other drug addicts. His mother, Esperanza, a religious and motherly woman, no longer knew what to do to get her son back on a better track.

One evening, Juan José returned to the family flat in Querétaro, having taken a mix of drugs. He and his mother got into a heated discussion, which soon turned into an argument. Suddenly, perhaps in an attempt to commit suicide, the young man ran to the balcony, toppled over the railing and fell ten metres to his death. He had no chance of survival. His head hit the cement ground. A pool of blood filled the spot where he fell. His body lay lifeless.

Apart from his mother, several residents of the building saw the body fall and heard the terrible noise it made as it crashed to the ground. Emergency services were called. When they arrived, the first thing they noticed was that the victim was not dead. His breathing was almost inaudible. His body was broken. He was taken unconscious to a nearby hospital. His chances of survival were minimal, as he had lost so much blood. The medical examinations carried out on him were categorical: in addition to multiple bone fractures, there was serious damage to the spinal cord, a fractured skull and intracranial haemorrhage. His mother, who had witnessed the accident without being able to do anything about it, was informed of all this by the doctors.

In shock, the poor woman did not react to the doctors' words. But after a short while, something unexpected happened to her: without doing anything, she regained some of her strength, and her mind cleared. She knew that she must now do something for her son, and that all was not lost. She was a devotee of Juan Diego, who was to be declared blessed three days later. She began to pray fervently to the holy native seer, asking him to help her son, whom she thought only Jesus and Mary could heal. She was deeply anguished but kept calling out to the blessed man. Deep down, she knew that he would intercede for her son.

Three days passed. Juan José was still in a coma, his condition stable. At this stage, there were no indications that he would recover. "We have to face the facts," the hospital nursing staff said, "the boy is going to die soon". It was 6 May 1990. On that day, Pope John Paul II was preparing to declare Juan Diego blessed. Esperanza waited.

Suddenly, voices, cries and laughter came from the intensive care unit where the young accident victim had been taken. Esperanza opened her eyes. "Why are these people celebrating at a time like this?" she wondered. Then she saw several doctors emerge from the corridor, rushing towards her: "Your son is... cured! All the vital signs had returned to normal. He came out of the coma. We don't understand it. It's completely impossible... " A week later, Juan was discharged from the hospital with no after-effects from the fractures and haemorrhaging. There were no physical or neurological after-effects whatsoever.

These events were considered supernatural by the Holy See after a very long investigation, in accordance with the usual procedure of the Congregation for the Causes of Saints: First gathered in Mexico City, the "facts of the Cause" (the numerous medical files, the sworn statements of the practitioners and the six eyewitnesses to the accident) were sent to Rome, to an expert medical commission of five members, all recognised specialists, who did not approve this file until November 1994. The legal circuit of the Cause did not end there. The medical commission forwarded all the documents to the theological advisors, who in turn focused their attention on the link between the mother's prayer to Juan Diego and her son's cure, and on the lightning speed and definitive nature of the cure. The theological commission gave its approval in May 2001, eleven years after the accident.

Finally, in September 2001, the Congregation for the Causes of Saints recognized the miracle. Three months later, the Pope signed the decree officially recognising the events as miraculous. Already beatified on 6 May 1990 by John Paul II in the Basilica of Our Lady of Guadalupe in Mexico City, Juan was raised to the altars by the same pope on 31 July 2002.

Beyond reasons to believe:

Contrary to what has been claimed, this miracle did not come "just at the right moment" to canonise Juan Diego "at all costs and quickly": well before the accident and subsequent recovery of the young man, the Holy See had already launched an "equipollent" canonisation procedure - a decision that makes it possible to proclaim the sanctity of a Christian person who has been venerated for centuries, without the need for a miracle.

Going further:

Fidel Gonzalez Fernandez, Guadalupe: pulso y corazon de un pueblo: El Acontecimiento Guadalupano, cimiento de la fe y de la cultura americiana, Mexico, Encuentro Ediciones, 2005.

More information:

• Acta Apostolicae Sedis, no. 94, 2002, p. 488.
• National Catholic Register article "Juan Diego, First of the Mexican People" by Jim Cosgrove, January 20, 2002
• Saint Juan Diego and Our Lady of Guadalupe (Encounter the Saints), by Josephine Nobisso, Pauline Books & Media (May 1, 2002)
• René Laurentin and Patrick Sbalchiero, Dictionnaire des "apparitions" de la Vierge Marie, Paris, Fayard, 2007, p. 402-409.