Passaic tears down shrine to Virgin of Guadalupe

Vandals couldn't destroy it, and numerous storms couldn't harm it, but the shrine to Our Lady of Guadalupe in Passaic finally came down on Wednesday after 14 unauthorized years at the corner of Hope and Madison avenues. 

Passaic Mayor Hector Lora ordered the shrine taken down in order to remove the religious display from land owned by the New Jersey Department of Transportation, and thus restore the separation of church and state. Lora, the city's newly-elected mayor who is also a minister, said he could not allow the religious display to permanently occupy public ground.

"The shrine was located illegally on public property and its removal should not come as a surprise," Lora said. "For over six months the city offered multiple resolutions for relocating the shrine, and all of those suggestions were rejected." 

Lora said the icon — a wooden log enclosed in a glass case — had been removed to a "secure location," which he would not disclose. The statues, candles and floral displays were all given to the group that maintained the shrine, known as Mayordomia Guadalupe. 

The shrine was the ad-hoc effort of a community of believers, built on state land and without permits. As the shrine grew, city officials simply looked the other way. It wasn’t until 2012, when vandals attacked and nearly destroyed the shrine, that the city officials took any interest. But when members of the Mexican community chose to rebuild, city officials did nothing to stop it.

The future of the shrine is uncertain. Mayordomia Guadalupe has been looking for a new location for the past six months, and has spoken to several churches, among them, St. Anthony of Padua in Passaic. 

The group is also considering moving the shrine to private property. Rene Barrera, the vice president of Mayordomia Guadalupe, was at the shrine on Wednesday with a petition that listed 42 Sixth Street and 171 Passaic Street as alternative locations. 

The shrine was the religious center of Passaic's large Mexican community, and its removal delivered a stunning blow. A crowd gathered and watched in cold silence as the a crew from the city Department of Public Works dismantled the shrine piece by piece.

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"I feel so powerless just standing here watching them take it apart," said Delfino Rocha. "It's been here for 14 years and it's not bothering anybody. Why do they have to remove it now?" 

Another bystander, Esteban Dominguez, said tearing down the shrine would likely lead to protests at City Hall.

"The mayor is not going to like what the reaction is going to be," he said. 

The Virgin Mary is said to have appeared before a Mexican peasant, Juan Diego in 1531. Poor Mexicans turn to Our Lady of Guadalupe for help in trying times.  

"We believe that she will give us the strength to live a better life," Dominguez said. "It gives us hope, and everybody lives for hope." 

The shrine grew out of the day in 2003 when two Mexican teenagers were chopping brush with a machete just off Hope Avenue. The boys came upon a tree stump, and one of the boys claimed to have seen the face of the Virgin Mary in the wood. 

Word quickly spread of the "miraculous sighting," and believers from all over rushed to the spot, which was right-of-way along Route 21 that is owned by the state. 

Passaic's mayor at the time, Sammy Rivera, let the community erect the shrine, and the state Department of Transportation didn't object. Over the years, the shrine became the spiritual center for many; there were always fresh flowers, a Saturday evening prayer service, and an annual May procession that would draw hundreds in which the icon was paraded through the streets. 

Vandals struck one May night in 2012, and destroyed much of the shrine. But the icon, wrapped in its crimson and red vestments and enclosed in glass, was saved, and removed for a time to nearby St. Mary's Roman Catholic Church. 

The shrine was eventually rebuilt, with a mural as a backdrop. But Lora said problems arose when Mayordomia Guadalupe set up a collection box at the site, and also ran electrical lines to furnish power to security lighting. 

Lora said he could not allow a religious group to occupy public property and collect money.

"I am standing for the law," Lora said.