Millions honor Virgin of Guadalupe in Mexico

Millions of faithful gathered to mark Mexico's Virgin of Guadalupe Day, honoring the country's patron saint. But calls by the Roman Catholic Church for a truce in Mexico's cartel violence apparently went unheeded as more dead bodies were found in the country.

Enormous crowds gathered early in the day, singing the traditional Mexican birthday song "Las mananitas" at Mexico City's Basilica of Our Lady of Guadalupe to honor the virgin on the 493rd anniversary of her apparition in 1531.

According to Mexico City Mayor Clara Brugada, 11.5 million pilgrims have visited the Basilica de Guadalupe.

The Basilica of Our Lady of Guadalupe is the second most visited Catholic shrine in the world after St. Peter's Basilica in Rome.

Mariachi bands and traditional dance groups were also present at the basilica, which has a mix of modern and colonial-era architecture.

Earlier this week, the Mexican Council of Bishops wrote an editorial calling for "a halt to the armed violence and hostile statements."

"In a country where violence has left painful wounds in families and polarization among the public, this is a proposal to reflect, and act in favor of reconciliation and human dignity," the council wrote on a church website, Desde la Fe.

But in the north-central state of Guanajuato — which has the highest number of homicides of any of Mexico's 32 states — the day was possibly even more violent than usual.

Police and prosecutors said 15 dead bodies were found on the streets in various cities in Guanajuato, and they warned that the death toll might be higher. In one macabre location, a pile of human remains was discovered on a highway near the city of Salvatierra, but authorities were still investigating how many victims it contained.

Local media said parts of hacked-up human bodies were left in black garbage bags in the back of a pickup truck with a banner signed by a drug cartel.

In Guanajuato in 2023 there were 8.5 homicides a day on average, according to official figures.