Forgive these blasphemers. This sprawling barrio, where Our Lady of Guadalupe graces virtually every home, has seemingly become the new epicenter of a growing number of desecrations of religious symbols. In the past month, at least nine images of the Virgen de Guadalupe have been defaced on murals along Cesar Chavez Avenue. But the vandalism is not limited to the famed street. It has coincided with the arrival to the City of Angels of a replica of Guadalupe, the patroness of the Americas, where she is being honored in daily rituals and processions.
Religious fanaticism is suspected, though no one is sure what the motive is or who the culprits are.
The vandals have desecrated the murals mostly by painting over her image with white paint. The original Guadalupe image resides in Mexico City. Tepeyac is also where Tonantzin was venerated in pre-Columbian times. Roughly translated, Tonantzin means Our Sacred Mother. Many believe that it was the syncretism of Our Lady of Guadalupe and Tonantzin that triggered the mass conversion of the suffering and besieged indigenous peoples to Christianity.