Juan Diego is traditionally identified as the Indigenous Christian who reported the apparitions of Our Lady of Guadalupe.
According to the Catholic tradition, Juan Diego Cuauhtlatoatzin encountered the Virgin Mary on Tepeyac Hill near Mexico City in December 1531. The account says Mary asked that a church be built there. When Bishop Juan de Zumárraga requested a sign, roses appeared on the hill in winter and were carried by Juan Diego in his tilma.
The tradition holds that an image of Mary appeared on the tilma when he opened it before the bishop. The Basilica of Our Lady of Guadalupe now stands at the site and is one of the world’s major Catholic pilgrimage destinations.
Pope John Paul II canonized Juan Diego in Mexico City on 31 July 2002. The historic details of the apparition account have been debated, but Juan Diego’s place in Mexican Catholic devotion is firmly established.