Cristos Negros of Central America and Mexico

Cristo Negros or Black Christs of Central America and Mexico trace their origins to the veneration of an image of Christ on a cross located in the Guatemalan town of Esquipulas, near the Honduran and El Salvadoran border. This image was sculpted in 1595 in wood and over time it blackened and gained a reputation for being miraculous. Little is known of how veneration of the image was spread by clergy, although there are records of its introduction in various locations, especially in Central America, southern Mexico, central Mexico (especially in areas near Mexico City) and even as far north as New Mexico. However, a number of these images, such as the ones in Chalma, State of Mexico and Mérida, Yucatán have origin stories that do not connect the local image with that of Esquipulas. The Cristo Negro of Esquipulas remains an important symbol for Central America, with its sanctuary the most visited site in the region. There are hundreds of other such images with at least local importance with Christ of Chalma attracting millions of visitors, second only to that of the Virgin of Guadalupe in Mexico. The popularity of the image continues to spread, with Central American and Mexican migrants bringing the image to the United States and Canada, founding new sanctuaries.

Although the veneration of the Virgin Mary, especially in the form of Our Lady of Guadalupe is famous in Mexico and to some extent in Central America, there has been a strong tradition of venerating images of Christ, especially crucifixes, which was more prominent than that of Mary in the colonial period. This has its origins in the practices of Catholic Europe at the time of the Spanish conquest of the Aztec Empire, themselves derived from medieval traditions. At least two thirds of Mexico’s Christ shrines were focused on crucifixes, and like in Europe, many of these Christ images have been purported to sweat or bleed and even spontaneously restore themselves after deterioration. Most of the Christ shrines originated early in the 17th century and a number gained importance into the 18th and 19th centuries. One reason for the devotion to images of Christ and the Virgin Mary is that there was little tradition of the veneration of saints’ relics, as there was in Europe. The Americas had few saints before the papacy of John Paul II .

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Wikipedia