The Ephemeral Basilica, when the Guadalupan temple was made with tents

In the Tepeyac AbbeyCuautitlán, State of Mexico, lives one of the most outstanding architects in the contemporary history of Mexico, recognized for his participation in one of the most important pilgrimage centers in our country and in the world: the Basilica of Guadalupe. He was also the inventor of the project that would anticipate the new Guadalupan headquarters: the Ephemeral Basilica. Is about Fray Gabriel Chavez de la Morawho in 2020 was awarded the National Architecture Award medal by President Andrés Manuel López Obrador.

Schulenburg and the new Basilica of Guadalupe

It was during his theology studies at the Tlalpan Council Seminary that Chávez de la Mora met Cardinal William Schulenburg, rector of the seminary, who was surprised by the innovativeness of his architectural work in the monastery. Later, Chávez de la Mora moved from the community of Cuernavaca to the Tepeyac Abbey in Lindavista. Schulenburg, who was already serving as the last abbot of the Basilica of Guadalupe, sought him out to participate in the project for the New Basilica of Guadalupe.

I moved to the North American foundation community of Lindavista in 1968. In workshops we were working for the Olympic Committee. In the Basilica there was abbot Schulenburg, who had had him as rector in the seminary. He knew that I was doing construction, so he called me to work in the Basilica.”

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With a smile, he recounts that he has been working at the Basilica since 1968, as he is still called to supervise works. “I am the veteran there in the Guadalupano team”, he comments to remember that his first task was the renovation of the Pocito Chapel, which was about to collapse at the time. Later, with the help of piles, he conditioned the old Basilica.

Fray Gabriel Chávez de la Mora and the Ephemeral Basilica

The titanic task would come in 1970, when an important anniversary of the coronation of the Virgin of Guadalupe was celebrated. The space in the Basilica, they calculated, was insufficient. Then De la Mora proposed a temporary project, the ephemeral basilica, which was a tent that spanned from the old Basilica to the atrium. The space was adapted for 10,000 people.

Subsequently, Schulenburg opted for a new Basilica project. There were various ideas, such as Jose Luis Benlliure, who proposed to build the temple in the Cerrito. There was also thought of building a larger structure on top of the old one, as well as demolition.

Finally, the project that prospered was the one headed by Pedro Ramírez Vázquez with the accompaniment of Benliure and Fray Gabriel Chávez de la Mora. A new building would be built.

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