Champion Shrine will host worldwide tour stop in preparation for apparitions’ 500th anniversary
By William Van de Planque | On Mission
CHAMPION, WI — The Pilgrim Mother, a life-sized statue of Our Lady of Guadalupe, the 1531 apparitions to St. Juan Diego on Tepeyac Hill in Mexico, is coming to the Diocese of Green Bay in March.
The statue, which has come from the Basilica of Our Lady of Guadalupe in Mexico City, will be at the The National Shrine of Our Lady of Champion from March 6 to March 11, one of the many stops in an international tour, organized in preparation for the 500th anniversary of the apparitions, which will be in 2031.
The Pilgrim Mother tour began in August 2025, debuting at the Shrine of Our Lady of Guadalupe in Des Plaines, Illinois, before making several stops at parishes in Chicago.
Following stops in Illinois, the Pilgrim Mother statue is traveling north to the Archdiocese of Milwaukee before its stay in Champion. It will be in Milwaukee starting tomorrow, Friday, February 20, until next Wednesday, February 25, at the Basilica of St. Josaphat. Archbishop Jeffrey Grob will celebrate the opening Mass at the Basilica of St. Josaphat on Friday at 6 p.m.
Bishop David Ricken will celebrate the opening Mass upon the arrival of the Pilgrim Mother statue in Champion on Friday, March 6, at 11:30 a.m.
Following the opening Mass, the faithful visiting the shrine will have the opportunity for prayer and veneration of the statue, along with a presentation on the significance of Our Lady of Guadalupe as part of a “Pilgrim Experience.” The faithful will also be able to submit prayer intentions to be carried back to the Basilica of Our Lady of Guadalupe at the conclusion of the international tour of the statue.
The Pilgrim Experience presentations will take place several times each day during the residency. Mass will also be celebrated each day, including multiple Masses in Spanish.
Fr. Juan Zárate, the pastor of St. Philip the Apostle Parish in Green Bay, who was born in Mexico City, will celebrate Mass in Spanish on Sunday, March 8, at 5:30 p.m. Fr. José López Vargas, the pastor of SS. Peter and Paul Parish in Green Bay, will celebrate the closing Mass in Spanish on Wednesday, March 11.
Our Lady of Champion, the only approved Marian apparition in the United States, which took place in Wisconsin in 1859, and Our Lady of Guadalupe are the only Church-approved Marian apparitions in North America.
The Champion Shrine’s website emphasizes the significance of this devotional opportunity for the faithful of Northeast Wisconsin: “The convergence of these two historic apparitions deepens our spiritual connection across the continent and invites pilgrims to renew their faith and devotion.”
For more information on the Pilgrim Mother statue visit, click HERE.