On 12 October 2026, the Basilica of Our Lady of Guadalupe in Mexico City opens a Holy Door and begins a Guadalupan Jubilee Year. Pope Leo XIV granted the Jubilee through the Apostolic Penitentiary, and it was announced by Cardinal Carlos Aguiar Retes, Primate Archbishop of Mexico. It runs for a full year, from 12 October 2026 into October 2027.
Why This Year
On 12 October 1976, the New Basilica on Tepeyac was dedicated, and the tilma of St. Juan Diego, bearing the image of the Virgin, was carried into it from the Old Basilica next door. The Jubilee marks fifty years since that dedication and that transfer. The same date is also the anniversary of the image's pontifical coronation, on 12 October 1895.
The Holy Door opens at the Mass of the Roses on 12 October, presided over by Cardinal Aguiar Retes. The full programme of the opening days is published by the Basilica.
The Plenary Indulgence
Throughout the Jubilee Year, a plenary indulgence is offered to the faithful who make a pilgrimage to the Basilica of Guadalupe. For what an indulgence is and the conditions under which it is gained, see the Church's own texts:
- Catechism of the Catholic Church, nos. 1471–1479: Indulgences
- Apostolic Penitentiary: The Gift of the Indulgence
Planning a Jubilee Pilgrimage
12 December falls inside the Jubilee. The Solemnity of Our Lady of Guadalupe is already the largest Marian feast in the Americas: ten to twelve million pilgrims come to Tepeyac each December. In a Jubilee Year, plan for crowds in early to mid December and book accommodation well ahead. The feast of St. Juan Diego on 9 December comes just before it.
Any season works. The Jubilee lasts the whole year. A visit outside the December weeks leaves more time to pray before the tilma and to climb the path up Tepeyac to the chapel on the summit, which marks the place of the first apparition.
Visit the whole hill. Beside the New Basilica stand the Old Basilica and, nearby, the Sanctuary of the Fifth Apparition. Our Mexico City guide covers these, along with the Metropolitan Cathedral, the font at Tlatelolco where Juan Diego is held to have been baptized, and the tomb of Blessed Miguel Pro. It also includes hotels within walking distance of the Basilica and directions from the airport and the northern bus terminal.
Further Resources
- Basilica of Our Lady of Guadalupe — the shrine's official website (in Spanish)
- EWTN News: Pope Leo XIV grants jubilee year for 50th anniversary of new Basilica of Guadalupe
