A fragment of the bone of the arm of San Judas Tadeo has traveled Mexico since July 29, 2024, crossing mountains and cities, and gathering about 15 million people moved by faith, hope and devotion.
Generally guarded in the Basilica of Salvatore in Lauro in Rome, the relic has been transported by Mexican territory in a panoramic view truck, which allows the faithful to contemplate it during their journey, a unique opportunity for the devotees of the so -called “apostle of the impossible.”
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First degree relics, such as the one currently in Mexico, are fragments of the saint’s body. In this case, it is specifically a fragment of the arm of San Judas Tadeo. Unlike these, the second and third grade relics include objects that belonged to the saint or articles that have had contact with their grave or other relics.
According to information provided to ACI Press by the organization that coordinates the pilgrimage, at the end of the fifth stage of the tour, scheduled by the end of June, the relic will have visited “292 parishes of 61 dioceses traveled”, of the 98 that make up the Catholic Church in Mexico.
Since he arrived in the country, he has witnessed priestly ordinations, visit to prisons, hospitals, assistance houses for older adults and migrants; inter alia.
One of the aspects that the organizers underline is the community and family experience that has generated the visit. From the organization they highlight especially “the participation of young people, children expressing their faith and devotion.”
To complete its national tour, the fragment of the bone of the San Judas Tadeo arm is still necessary to visit ten states: Baja California, Durango, Zacatecas, Aguascalientes, Colima, Querétaro, Guanajuato, Morelos and part of the State of Mexico. However, it is expected that in the coming months it will arrive throughout the country, since “its pilgrimage will prolong for Mexico until September.”
According to the organizers, the success of the pilgrimage is due to the “roots that the devotion to San Judas Tadeo has in the popular piety of our country.” They pointed out that in all the places he has reached, the presence of parishes, chapels and sanctuaries dedicated to the apostle of the impossible is a clear sample of this deep veneration.
And they added that the faithful, “regardless of how much they have to travel, time and weather, they come to venerate the relic.”
Diego López Colín
I am a graduate of journalism at the Carlos Septién García school with experience of religious institutional communication. Since 2016 I write for digital media and, since 2018, I report the most important news about the Catholic event in Mexico for the Ewtn news channel. ACI Press correspondent in Mexico since 2023.