Bishop John Dolan made his first-ever pilgrimage to the Basilica of Our Lady of Guadalupe in Mexico City on March 30. He carried with him the intentions of the Diocese of Phoenix and entrusted TILMA, his seven-year pastoral plan on evangelization, to Our Lady of Guadalupe. She is both the bishop’s inspiration for the historic initiative and the patroness of the Phoenix Diocese.
In his first pastoral letter, released in October 2024, Bishop Dolan shared his love for Our Lady of Guadalupe who “just like Juan Diego’s simple tilma, she desires to transform us into image bearers of Christ and great evangelizers of her motherly love.”
An estimated 30 million pilgrims and 10 million non-religious visitors annually flock to the basilica, which houses the miraculous tilma bearing the image of Our Lady of Guadalupe, according to the Mexico City government. This is more than the number of pilgrims that travel to the Holy Land, Fatima and Lourdes combined, per The Ministry of Tourism in Israel, Zenit and Etudes Touristiques.
Bishop Dolan, who finds inspiration in Our Lady of Guadalupe as “the greatest evangelizer of the Americas,” spent several hours at the basilica touring the grounds.
The following morning, he toured the Nuestros Pequeños Hermanos (NPH) high school in Cuernavaca, Mexico, where he met students and staff. NPH was founded in 1954 by Fr. William Wasson, a Phoenix native and St. Mary’s Catholic High School graduate. The program has transformed the lives of tens of thousands of the most vulnerable children and young adults by providing a nurturing family environment, education, health care and vocational and life skills training. NPH has schools in nine different countries, including Honduras, which Bishop Dolan visited in August 2024.
Later that day, Bishop Dolan toured the historic Mexico City Metropolitan Cathedral and shared a meal in Cuernavaca with Bishop Ramon Castro, a former Vatican diplomat who currently serves as the bishop of Cuernavaca and the president of the Mexican Conference of Catholic Bishops. They had a preliminary discussion about a potential cultural exchange opportunity for the seminarians of both dioceses.
A special edition of the TILMA podcast dedicated to this historic trip will be coming soon. Bishop Dolan will share reflections, insights and video clips featuring the sights and sounds of his pilgrimage.
The TILMA podcast is a monthly video series that delves into all aspects of Bishop John’s seven-year pastoral plan on evangelization — everything from exciting community events around the diocese to a deep-dive into Pope Francis’ 10 Hopes for the 2025 Jubilee Year. All episodes can be found on the Diocese of Phoenix’s Facebook and YouTube channels.
