Why does Mexico’s Guadalupe pilgrimage draw millions?: Video

While the pilgrimage is rooted in a 16th-century apparition, its sheer scale and the deeply personal stories behind it have made it an event watched far beyond Mexico’s borders.

This year, vast crowds made the journey carrying statues, photos and offerings. Many travelled on their knees, reflecting both devotion and the burdens they hoped to leave behind. For some, the pilgrimage is connected to economic hardship, migration challenges or health crises, issues that resonate widely across the Global South and diaspora communities.

One young student, for example, completed the route crawling after promising to repay the Virgin if he was able to resume his studies following serious financial difficulties. A local businesswoman returned to give thanks for work and health during the year and to pray for her husband’s safe return from the United States. Another father completed the journey on his knees with his children after believing his infant son, once given little chance of survival due to a tumour, had been granted another chance at life.

Many described the physical strain of the last stretch as overwhelming, speaking of the moment when the entrance to the basilica comes into sight, and the sense of weight becomes almost unbearable. Others framed the pilgrimage as an act of renewal, saying they had come to express gratitude for health, protection and the hope of remaining “clean” and free from the struggles that once defined their lives.

According to tradition, the Virgin Mary appeared in 1531 to an Indigenous man named Juan Diego, and devotion to Our Lady of Guadalupe has since become woven into Mexico’s cultural and spiritual identity. Yet its significance extends far beyond the country. Authorities estimate that around four million pilgrims will visit the basilica between 11 and 12 December, placing the event among the world’s most attended religious gatherings.