Covid may be in the rear-view mirror in terms of the two-year lockdown it delivered to kick off the decade. But that doesn't mean it's out of sight. It lingers back there in the passing lane, threatening to step on the gas once again.
The good folks in Mexico City, however, aren't looking back. Their collective gaze is forward, and the 11 million who came out for the country's largest religious pilgrimage did so this week without restrictions for the first time since 2019. Since the pandemic broke, the multi-day event has been canceled or held with restrictions as Mexican officials worked to contain the virus.
This year, it was very different.
The Day of the Virgin of Guadalupe is held Dec. 12 to commemorate the 1531 event in which the image of the Virgin Mary is said to have miraculously imprinted itself on the cloak of Mexican peasant Juan Diego. The image is preserved inside the Mexico City Basilica.
In 2020, the shrine was closed entirely for days and, last year, pilgrims weren't allowed to sleep outside it, as is tradition.
This year, Mexico City officials estimate that 11 million visited the shrine. On Dec. 12, the basilica's patio was "awash" in tents and people, reports say. Pilgrims camp on the patio to show their devotion and participate in a midnight Mass, at which the traditional birthday song "Las Mananitas" is sung to the Virgin.
Basilica rector Monsignor Salvador Martinez invited pilgrims to the shrine and gave thanks to God for "recovered normality." And he reminded them to avoid large crowds, if possible. News reports don't indicate whether he did so with a straight face.