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This study of the cult of Guadalupe by a Latinx scholar finds that rather than an expression of Marian devotion it is instead a popular form of pneumatology, a devotion to the Holy Spirit through Mary.
In Pentecost at Tepeyac? Orlando Espin develops a Latinx pneumatology, or theology of the Holy Spirit, by exploring the image and enduring popular devotion to Our Lady of Guadalupe. He argues that all symbols are cultural creations, and furthermore, the Spirit being divine is beyond all cultures. Therefore, no one symbol–whether dove, flame, breath, or any other—can be the only symbol possible. The feminine too can culturally symbolize the divine. To experience and express their faith in God non-European cultures can and must culturally symbolize the divine, in their respective ways.
By focusing on the empowering action of the Spirit among the indigent and marginalized majority of humankind and their cultures, Espín provides a clear and compelling vision of the Holy Spirit’s subversive, empowering role in human history, societies and cultures.
Orlando O. Espín is professor emeritus of systematic theology, University of San Diego, where he also served as director of the Center for the Study of Latino/a Catholicism. A founder of the Academy of Hispanic Catholic Theologians of the U.S (ACTHUS) he is the winner of the John Courtney Murray Award from the Catholic Theological Society of America. His many books include Idol & Grace, The Faith of the People, and Grace and Humanness.
