Pontiff calls the Guadalupan event a guiding criterion for evangelisation ahead of the 500th anniversary of the apparitions
Vatican City / Mexico City — Feb. 26, 2026:
In a message addressed to the Theological-Pastoral Congress on the Guadalupan Event, held in Mexico City from February 24–26, Pope Leo XIV described Our Lady of Guadalupe as a “model of authentic inculturation” and a lasting reference point for the Church’s mission of evangelising cultures.
The congress — organised by the Pontifical Commission for Latin America, the Mexican Episcopal Conference, the Knights of Columbus, and the Pontifical International Marian Academy — is part of preparations for the 2031 Jubilee, marking 500 years since the apparitions to Saint Juan Diego on Tepeyac Hill.
God enters history, not theory
In his message, dated February 5, Pope Leo reflected on how God reveals Himself throughout salvation history — not as an ideology imposed from outside, but by entering into the concrete experience, language, and freedom of peoples.
“Evangelisation,” the Pope wrote, “means making Christ present and fostering a living relationship with Him — one that shapes both personal and communal life.”
The Guadalupan apparition, he said, is one of the Church’s clearest examples of how God speaks through cultures without negating them.
Guadalupe: A paradigm of encounter with Christ
Pope Leo stressed that the Virgin of Guadalupe demonstrates how the Gospel can take root in a culture without coercion and without losing the integrity of Christian revelation.
Authentic inculturation, he said, never falls into two extremes:
- Absolutising a culture, treating it as complete and self-sufficient
- Rejecting a culture, dismissing its values as irrelevant or incompatible
Instead, the Gospel assumes, purifies, and transforms cultures so they become “places of encounter with Christ.”
The Pope highlighted that the Tepeyac event — where Mary appears speaking in the local language, with symbols familiar to the Indigenous people — is a “permanent criterion” for the Church’s evangelising mission.
Inculturation is demanding — and ongoing
Leo warned that inculturation is not a superficial adaptation but a deep process of spiritual discernment.
It requires recognising the “seeds of the Word” present in every culture,
while allowing every human reality to be enlightened and renewed by Christ’s Paschal Mystery.
No culture, however rich, he emphasised, can become the measure of the Gospel; Christ alone is the measure of faith.
Faith transmission cannot be assumed
Looking toward today’s rapidly changing societies, the Pope noted that the transmission of faith — once embedded in family or community life — can no longer be taken for granted.
This challenge is especially acute in:
- Urban environments
- Pluralistic societies
- Digital and secularised cultures
For this reason, Pope Leo called for a renewed commitment to catechesis, drawing continuity with the 2007 Aparecida Document, which urged the Church to form “mature and missionary disciples.”
A call for a new evangelising momentum
The Pope’s message positions the Guadalupan event as foundational for the Church as it prepares for the 2031 Jubilee.
It is, he said, a reminder that evangelisation is most fruitful when it reflects:
- Proximity to people’s real lives
- Respect for cultural identity
- The transforming power of Christ
- A missionary Church rooted in encounter, not imposition
In Guadalupe, the Church finds a living image of what evangelisation can be: tender, inculturated, and deeply Christ-centered.