NEWS & VIEWS
from a CATHOLIC perspective

      (CWNews.com) - The Archdiocese of Mexico City warned Mexicans on Tuesday not to be taken in by a scam in which con artists are selling tickets to events during Pope John Paul II's visit to the country later this month.

      Local media has reported a brisk business in ticket sales by unidentified individuals for several of the large gatherings where the Holy Father will speak. But the archdiocesan spokesman said such ticket sales are illegal since the events are free. "No-one, absolutely no-one, should pay one centavo (for tickets) to see the Pope," he said.

      Several million are expected to attend the events, including the Mass at the Basilica of Our Lady of Guadalupe with about 600 bishops and 5,000 priests from across North and South America. The Holy Father will be in Mexico between January 22-26.

      In a related story, Noticias Eclesias reports that the Mexican priest Enrique R. Salazar, promoter of the cause of the Blessed Juan Diego, highlighted that the process of canonization of the Mexican Blessed is in steady progress. Discarding the possibility that Pope John Paul II will canonize Juan Diego during his fourth visit to this country, Father Salazar manifested however that by February the decision might be already taken.

      Father Salazar mentioned as "an important step" in the process of canonization of the Mexican Blessed the fact that a detailed historical document on his life and also of the miracle attributed to him is actually being carefully studied in the Vatican. A fundamental document in the process is the "Nican Mopohua," a well known testimony in náhuatl - aboriginal language of the central part of Mexico- written by the Indian cronist Antonio Valeriano. According to several sources and ecclesiastical traditions, after the apparitions Juan Diego lived for about 17 years serving the Virgin of Guadalupe in the hermitage that preceded the current Basilica, dying at the age of 74.