Complete with its new roof but still without doors, windows, benches or flooring, the Santuario de los Mártires (Martyrs’ Sanctuary) hosted its first mass last Sunday, welcoming 10,000 Catholics to its hilltop home in the economically challenged Cerro del Cuatro barrio on Guadalajara’s south side.
No one seemed to mind that they had to stand for the entirety of Sunday’s 90-minute service. Some of the worshippers had even walked in a three-kilometer procession, accompanied by the revered statue of the Virgin of Zapopan, to the church from the Patria and Colon intersection. As yet the temple has no car park.
The huge, landmark church, under construction since 2005, will become the largest religious building on the American continent. It honors 25 of Mexico’s Catholic martyrs of the Cristero War of the 1920s.
The Archdiocese of Guadalajara has spent more than 700 million pesos on the temple, which is still several years from completion, church leaders acknowledge. Most of its financing has come from private donations. The archdiocese plans another fundraising campaign starting next month.