VIRGIN OF GUADALUPE CELEBRATION

TOR2000121207 -12 DECEMBER 2000 -TORTUGAS, NEW MEXICO, USA: Members of the Danzante dance troupe from the Tortugas Publos in southern New Mexico, perform during the annual Virgin of Guadalupe Fiesta, Tuesday, Dec. 12, 2000. The Virgin of Guadalupe is revered throughout the Southwest and Mexico for bringing Catholicism to the New World. Catholics in Mexico have celebrated Dec 12 as the Day of the Virgin of Guadalupe since 1531, when the Virgin first appeared to a Mexican Indian named Juan Diego in the hills above what is now Mexico City. UPI rw/jk/Jack Kurtz