Juan Diego, Saint (1474-1548), was the earliest saint of the Roman Catholic Church born in the Western Hemisphere. An indigenous (native) Mexican, he was canonized (declared a saint) by Pope John Paul II in 2002.
Juan Diego was probably born near present-day Mexico City. His indigenous name was Cuauhtlatoatzin, which means the talking eagle. In 1524 or 1525, Juan Diego converted to Christianity and was baptized, receiving his Christian name.
According to tradition, Juan Diego was hurrying over Tepeyac Hill in what is now Mexico City on Dec. 9, 1531, when he saw a vision of a beautiful woman wearing a blue mantle. She told him to ask the bishop to build a shrine where she stood. The bishop did not believe Juan Diego until his fourth vision, on December 12. After this vision, an image of the woman appeared on Juan Diego’s cloak. The woman called herself the Virgin Mary. Honored as Our Lady of Guadalupe (also called the Virgin of Guadalupe), she is Mexico’s patron saint. The cloak hangs in a frame at the altar of the Basilica of Our Lady of Guadalupe, built on the site of the visions.
After the visions, Juan Diego gave his business and his property to his uncle. He moved into a room attached to a chapel that housed the sacred image on his cloak. Juan Diego died on May 30, 1548. His feast day is December 9.
