The tradition of Our Lady of Guadalupe of Mexico is one of history's greatest examples of the fusion of religious devotion and national identity. For more than three centuries it has united a people who have often been divided. Given the universality of the devotion, not just in Mexico but throughout the Catholic world, it is surprising to know that from the beginning the story of the Virgin Mary's appearances to the neophyte Indian Juan Diego has been the object of bitter controversy. In the late nineteenth century this centered on the authenticity of the tradition, sparked in part by the famous letter of the great Mexican historian Joaquín García Icazbalceta to the archbishop of Mexico, in which he listed his arguments against the tradition. From 1980 until 2002 the controversy centered on the canonization of Juan Diego and the doubts about his historical existence. The Guadalupan Controversies in Mexico is the first comprehensive history of this interesting yet relatively unknown facet of Mexican social and religious history.
