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Guatemalan Celebration of “El Cristo Negro” – Year 2022

January 16, 2022

On January 16, 2022, Bishop Kevin Birmingham celebrated the 10 am Family Mass and bless the replica of El Cristo Negro.

What is the “Black Christ” or “El Cristo Negro”? The original image was sculpted in wood in 1595. Legend has it that the statue cried out for attention during a short period of time when it was stored in a shed. In response to this miraculous call, the crucifix was placed in a church in the town of Esquipulas, near Guatemala’s border with Honduras and El Salvador. During the earliest days, the figure of Christ on the cross drew crowds of people from nearby Mayan worship sites, converting many to Christianity. Through natural aging and accumulated candle smoke, the wooden image gradually darkened. The suffering Christ with dark skin became an image with whom the people of Central America could identify.

While the Virgin of Guadalupe is more well known in the United States, the Black Christ is the dominant religious figure in Central and South America. The Family Mass Community has been celebrating its Feast Day together, on January 15, or the Sunday closest to that date, for many years now. A few years ago, the Community received the gift of a beautiful replica statue of the Black Christ, carried from Esquipulas by the Guatemalan members of the Family Mass Community.