Cartago pilgrimage entering its final phase
The march to Cartago entered its final phase Tuesday, and the flood of the faithful increased dramatically.
The principal ceremony is a Mass today at 9:30 a.m. which President Óscar Arias Sánchez, his ministers and other politicians, all the bishops in the country and an estimated million persons will attend.
Today is the feast day of Nuestra Señora de los Ángeles, the patroness of Costa Rica and this nation’s manifestation of Mexico’s Virgin of Guadalupe.
By noon, hundreds of thousands of pilgrims will be attempting to return to their homes. Not many will be walking, and bus companies mount a major effort each year to carry the crowd. Many stayed up one or two nights so they could be in the plaza of the Basilica de los Ángeles for today’s ceremonies.
Not all was peaceful. The press office of the Poder Judicial said that a judge in Goicoechea jailed a man with the last name of Montenegro for two months for investigation. He was the suspected driver of a hit-and-run car that killed a 27-year-old pilgrim, Cristian Rodríguez Alvarez, in Curridabat Sunday morning. The man is facing a charge of causing death and injuries while driving drunk.
Earlier Tuesday four men mugged a pilgrim, Salomón Paniagua Elizondo, also in Curridabat, which is east of San José. The man lost a cell telephone, and the four men fled in a taxi. Fuerza Pública officers caught up with four suspects in Tirrases, detained them, confiscated a .38-caliber pistol and recovered a cell phone.
Today is a public holiday, and there will be extensive television coverage of the activities at the Cartago church.
The U.S. Embassy will be closed.