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	Faithful Celebrate Lady of Guadalupe at Stockton Festival By Kerry McCray Modesto Bee December 6, 2010 http://www.modbee.com/2010/12/05/1459098/faithful-celebrate-lady-of-guadalupe.html [with video] STOCKTON — More than 10,000 people, many from Modesto, paraded through downtown Sunday, paying tribute to Our Lady of Guadalupe in an event marked with colorful costumes, lively mariachi music and an address by a guest who has stirred up a bit of controversy. Los Angeles Cardinal Roger Mahony, who served as a bishop of the Stockton Diocese in the early 1980s, returned for a parade and a Mass in celebration of the Virgin Mary. Known for his work with the Latino community here, Mahony began the tradition some 30 years ago, modeling it after an event in Fresno. Sunday's walk included floats, bands and dancers from parishes in Stanislaus County, including St. Jude's in Ceres; Sacred Heart in Turlock; St. Mary's in Oakdale; and Holy Family, St. Stanislaus, Our Lady of Fatima and St. Joseph's in Modesto. A handful of protesters carriedsigns, objecting to Mahony's participation in the festival. In the past decade, Mahony's work on social justice issues, such as higher pay and better conditions for migrant workers, has been overshadowed by church sex-abuse scandals in the Stockton, Fresno and Los Angeles dioceses. He was deposed, for example, in lawsuits over pedophile ex-priest Oliver O'Grady, who served in the Stockton Diocese from the 1970s to early 1990s. And he agreed to pay $660 million from the Los Angeles Diocese in 2007 to 508 people who said they had been abused by priests or other church employees. It was the largest settlement of such cases in the country. That didn't matter to most participants, who came to celebrate their religion. "This is one way for our culture to show our faith," said Oscar Cervantes, who marched in the parade along with other members of his church, St. Stanislaus of Modesto. The festival commemorates the day in 1531 when it is said the Virgin Mary appeared for the second time to Indian farmer Juan Diego on a hill near Mexico City. Diego, who walked several miles to Mass every day, gathered Spanish roses when the weather was too cold for them to grow — a sign of the apparition — to persuade the Castilian bishop to build a church on the site. Today, the scene is re-enacted on floats. A young girl poses as the virgin; a young man looks up at her as an angel stands nearby. The festival included dancers in traditional costumes, complete with feather headdresses and maracas. Mariachi bands and drum corps played. Even the crowd was colorful. Many women lining the streets wore full skirts with bright embroidery. Girls braided their hair with red, green and white ribbons. Boys dressed as Juan Diegitos — little Juan Diegos — in brown suits and painted mustaches. Jesus Sanchez, 14, of Modesto remembers dressing as Juan Diego when he was younger. It's generally an honor reserved for boys 10 and younger. "It's fun," said the teenager from St. Joseph's parish. "We're from Mexico, and it reminds us of home." Festivals honoring Our Lady of Guadalupe are common south of the border, said Leticia Almodovar of Modesto, who marched with St. Joseph's. She was impressed with the large number of young people who marched in Sunday's procession. "It's so good," she said. "They are following the religion and our Mexican traditions." Not everyone was pleased with Sunday's event, however. Protestors from SNAP — the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests — turned out to tell people about Mahony's history. Group member Tim Lennon of San Francisco said he was sexually abused by a priest in the Midwest when he was a child. "That priest was transferred to another parish by the bishop," he said. "Cardinal Mahony, when he was bishop here, he did the same thing." Cervantes of St. Stanislaus Catholic Church had a different outlook on the cardinal's appearance. He was at Stockton Arena, the destination of the procession, where Mahony and Bishop Stephen Blaire of the Stockton Diocese celebrated Mass in Spanish. "He's here, and that tells me that he cares, clearly," Cervantes said. "He cares about our community." Bee staff writer Kerry McCray can be reached at kmccray@modbee.com or 578-2358.
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