Week 5 Project 5A

2. The Independence period spans the nineteenth century, during which
most Latin American nations experienced major religious, cultural, eco-
nomic, and political changes as a result of their separation from colonial
authority. This era in Latin American history is sometimes called the na-
tional period because it was dominated by the formation and consolida-
tion of modern nation-states. With independence from Spain, most Latin
American nations ended the Roman Catholic Church’s privileged status
as the official religion. This disestablishment led not only to greater diver-
sity within Catholicism, since enforcement of orthodoxy was less strict,
but also to greater religious diversity in general, as non-Catholic religions
were able to emerge and expand. This transformation continues into the
present day.
http://www.casahistoria.net/latam.html

3. Juan Diego was born in 1474 in the calpulli or ward of Tlayacac in Cuauhtitlan. On December 9, 1531,Juan Diego walked fifteen miles to daily Mass in what is now Mexico City. Juan lived a simple life as a weaver, farmer, and laborer. He devoted himself to hard work in the fields and manufacturing mats. He owned a piece of land and a small houe. He was happily married but had no children. Between 1524 and 1525 he was converted and baptized, as well as his wife, receiving the Christian name of Juan Diego and her wife the name of Maria Lucia. He was baptized by a Franciscan priest,Fr Peter da Gand, one of the first Franciscan missionaries. According to the first formal investigation by the Church about the events, the Informaciones Guadalupanas of 1666, Juan Diego seems to have been a very devoted, religious man, even before his conversion. He was a solitary, mystical character, prone to spells of silence and frequent penance and used to walk from his village to Tenochtitlan, 14 miles away, to receive instruction on the doctrine.
His wife Maria Lucia became sick and died in 1529. Juan Diego then moves to live with his uncle Juan Bernardino in Tolpetlac, which was closer (9 miles) to the church in Tlatelolco -Tenochtitlan.He died on May 30, 1548, at the age of 74.
http://www.catholic.org/saints/saint.php?saint_id=73

4. I just picked the topic randomly
5. His native name was Cuauhtlatoatzin, which could be translated as "One who talks like an eagle" or "eagle that talks". The Nican Mopohua describes him as a 'macehualli' or "poor Indian", one who did not belong to any of the social categories of the Empire, as priests, warriors, merchants,...but not a slave; a member of the lowest and largest class in the Aztec Empire. When talking to Our Lady he calls himself "a nobody", and refers to it as the source of his lack of credibility before the Bishop.
One morning, as Juan passed Tepeyac Hill, he heard music and saw a glowing cloud encircled by a rainbow. A woman's voice called him to the top of the hill. There he saw a beautiful young woman dressed like an Aztec princess. She said she was the Virgin Mary and asked Juan to tell the bishop to build a church on that site. The bishop asked Juan to bring proof of the Lady's identity. She then told Juan to climb to the top of the hill where they first met. Juan was shocked to find flowers growing in the frozen soil. He gathered them in his cloak and took them at once to the bishop. Juan told the bishop what had happened and opened his cloak. The flowers that fell to the ground were Castilian roses (which were not grown in Mexico). But the bishop's eyes were on the glowing image of the Lady imprinted inside Juan's cloak.
Pope John Paul II praised Juan Diego for his simple faith nourished by catechesis and pictured him (who said to the Blessed Virgin Mary: "I am a nobody, I am a small rope, a tiny ladder, the tail end, a leaf") as a model of humility for all of us.

http://www.sancta.org/juandiego.html