This just in

A torch lit at the Basilica of Our Lady of Guadalupe in Mexico City on Oct. 5 – a symbol of hope and faith, and a reminder of the human dignity of the peoples on both sides of the border – carried by runners from Mexico City to New York City, will make a stop in Philadelphia this weekend.

Sometime between 5 and 6 p.m. on Saturday, Dec. 6 the torch, carried by runners representing the migrant community, will arrive at St. Peter the Apostle Church at 5th Street and Girard Avenue. Sunday morning, runners will carry it to its next stop – Bayonne, N.J. – ultimately to arrive in New York City on Dec. 12 the Feast Day of Our Lady of Guadalupe.

Also, on the Philadelphia Catholic breaking news front, it is semi-, quasi-, just-about official that the Cathedral Basilica of SS. Peter and Paul – Philadelphia’s mother church – will be installing an image of Our Lady of Guadalupe.

Apparently, the Mexican community of St. Thomas Aquinas Parish wrote a letter to Cardinal Justin Rigali last year requesting that he consider installing an image of La Morenita in the Cathedral given the large number of Latino Catholics in the Archdiocese….at this year’s Day of Sanctification for priests, Nov. 24, the Cardinal announced it is in the works.

No word yet whether it will be in the chapel, or in the Cathedral proper, or whether it will be a statue or a painting, but as soon as I know, the readers of this blog will know.

(Photo of La Morenita at St. Thomas Aquinas Church in Philadelphia by Joanna Lightner.)