Archbishop Salvatore Cordileone of San Francisco will celebrate Frank La Rocca’s Mass of the Americas at the Basílica de Santa María de Guadalupe (Basilica of Our Lady of Guadalupe) Oct. 7, 2025, in Tepeyac outside of Mexico City. 

This shrine is the site of the Blessed Virgin Mary’s appearance to St. Juan Diego in 1531, leading to the conversion of several millions of Aztecs. The shrine houses Mary’s image on his tilma. The Mass of the Americas is a liturgy of unity with Our Lady of the Immaculate Conception, patroness of the United States and Our Lady of Guadalupe, patroness of Mexico and all the Americas. The Mass has been broadcast on EWTN.

Archbishop Cordileone announced this celebration as part of Project Guadalupe 2031, a new initiative to raise awareness of and answer Pope Francis’ call to prepare for the 500th anniversary of the appearance of Our Lady of Guadalupe in 2031.

The Mass of the Americas will be sung by a festival choir, featuring hundreds of singers from across the United States and led by Richard Carrillo of the University of Nebraska. 

Carrillo, 41, who is a “mestizo-American” of mixed Mexican and Indigenous heritage, first conducted the Mass of the Americas as part of his Ph.D. dissertation for Miami’s prestigious Frost School of Music. He discussed with the Register the significance of this celebration and this festival choir.

As we celebrate the feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe, can you tell us about the importance Our Lady has played in your life?

It’s hard to not find her responsible for my faith and the strong faith of my family that preceded me for generations. I have deep roots in both Mexican Indigenous and Hispanic backgrounds. it was Our Lady of Guadalupe’s original apparition that first brought my ancient ancestors to their faith — and a faith that has been passed down for nearly 500 years to this present day. 

My grandmother passed away when I was a young child. I don’t have many memories of “Mimi,” but I can recall her singing La Guadalupana to me as a young boy. When I first heard the lullaby my grandmother sang to me raised into sacred music for the Mass of the Americas, I was so moved I wept. I know Mimi continues to pray for me, with the intercession of Our Lady of Guadalupe, from heaven.

I can’t help but suspect my Mimi’s intercessory prayers through the Virgen de Guadalupe have something to do with the many opportunities the Mass of the Americas has opened up for me: the whole focus of my doctoral dissertation (which was about the Mass of the Americas), receiving a grant to go to Mexico to further my research, the many subsequent performances this has entailed, and obviously this incredible opportunity to conduct this Mass with Archbishop Cordileone next to the actual tilma. Mary’s role in my life has only continued to grow over my years of faith, and I look to the examples of the great saints of the past (St. John Paul II, St. Maximilian Kolbe, St. Teresa of Calcutta) who all spoke of the importance of the role Mary has played in their lives, to only confirm my choice to grow in devotion to the pregnant Virgin. The symbolism found throughout the tilma is mind-blowing in its own right, but more personally, what is most powerful to me is that she picked the simple Juan Diego to bring her message to the Americas. I can’t help but feel a close connection and kinship to him, as I try to be faithful to my own call, which is to use music to help bring her message of Christ to as many as I can. 

 

How did you hear of the Mass of the Americas, and what attracted you to it?

In the summer of 2021, I went on tour with the University of Miami’s Frost School of Music’s Concert Chorale to England and France. I remember walking into a beautiful church in France, with the remains and relics of some of the great saints from history, to only be quickly jarred out of my reflective prayer when the music for the Mass began. Every Mass is a miracle regardless of the musical quality, but still I remember at that moment telling my adviser, Dr. Amanda Quist, that while I didn’t know exactly what my dissertation topic would be, I knew I wanted to do something that would bring beautiful sacred music deeper into the practice of the Catholic faith. I wanted particularly to find music that could help move one’s heart deeper into the beauty of the Eucharist.

So I began my quest of trying to find the right vehicle for this and for my dissertation performance. In my search, I finally came across Frank La Rocca’s Mass of the Americas on YouTube. Without knowing any of the background of this Mass other than the title, I was shocked when I heard the melodies of the same hymn (La Guadalupana) my grandmother used to sing for me, but integrated skillfully and beautifully through the Mass, sometimes subtly and sometimes very overtly. I was drawn to the beauty and almost prayerful melodies I heard throughout. I was especially drawn to the Aue Maria, being the first known Ave Maria in the Nahuatl language in which Our Lady of Guadalupe spoke to Juan Deigo. And it was at this moment I knew I not only wanted to make this the source of my dissertation, but to use my voice as a musician and classically trained conductor, to do this in the context of an actual Catholic liturgy, as prayer and not just performance.

In this time where the truth is now relative, and goodness is now subjective, beauty is the last of the three transcendentals to be universally accepted. I knew at that moment I was being called to do all I could to use beauty (and in this instance with the Mass of the Americas) to help draw others close to the Mass and the Eucharist. Given my close connection to the melodic source material (the La Guadalupana and Las Mañanitas) as well as containing one of the earliest melodies of sacred Catholic music in the U.S. (in the Cantico del Alba), this Mass seemed to have fit me perfectly. It checked the box for my musicianship, by being incredibly beautiful; it checked the box for my culture (both Mexico and the U.S.) as well as connections to my own personal family and upbringing; and it obviously checked the box of my Catholic faith, which is so important to my life and central to my work as a choral conductor as well.

 

What do you think of Archbishop Cordileone’s launch of Project Guadalupe 2031 with a number of other U.S. bishops this December?

I am so thrilled by Archbishop Cordileone’s Project Guadalupe 2031. Just as the original apparition caused the world’s largest mass conversion, Our Lady of Guadalupe continues to bring countless individuals to her Son and draws them closer to the Eucharist. So I can only imagine what this can do, knowing the importance of la Virgen in the Mass of the Americas and her special grace of reaching so many as this Mass is promulgated throughout the U.S. The goal in all that we do is to bring ourselves and others to Christ, and this is a powerful tool to do so.

 

What is the significance for you personally in bringing a festival choir to Tepeyac to celebrate the Mass of the Americas with Archbishop Cordileone?

This is huge and honestly a dream come true. To be able to conduct Frank La Rocca’s Mass of the Americas at Tepeyac, which is the origin story of the Catholic faith for so much of the West, is truly a humbling experience. As I’ve said, there is such a family and faith connection to not only the Mass but to Our Lady of Guadalupe — there are truly no words to describe how significant this is to me and my family. 

I want every aspect of this experience to help provide a faith experience for all the musicians, which is why this is being set up also as a true pilgrimage. Our days will include daily Mass, rehearsals will begin and end with prayer, and we will be visiting the various sites surrounding the apparition (Tepeyac, the church where Juan Diego was baptized, etc.) and will even do a final concert at the Shrine of Blessed Miguel Pro, another important figure in Mexican history whose witness and martyrdom drew many to Christ.

We are in talks with pastors, music directors and church musicians as far south as Texas, as far north as Minnesota, Miami, Nebraska and places in between. Given the large scope of this project (we are looking to put together a choir of 150 to 200 singers, as the basilica can hold 10,000 people), we are very much still looking for singers to be a part of this and recruiters to help others find out about this special opportunity. Pilgrims (singers and non-singing pilgrims) can sign up. Individuals can sign up here; if someone is able to recruit 20 people to attend, be it singers or non-singing pilgrims, such as clergy, spouses, the trip for the recruiter will be free. So if a choir director would like to bring their choir, or someone in their area wants to put together a group of singers/pilgrims, they can reach out to me directly, and we can set up their group registration separately. Many pilgrims will want to come experience and be a part of this, to draw us closer to Christ as we celebrate this historic event honoring the 500th anniversary of the original apparition.

One of the beauties of the Mass of the Americas is that it is accessible for average singers. We will provide practice tracks that we had professionally made to aid in learning the music and will be holding rehearsals in Mexico as part of the pilgrimage experience. There are a few more difficult moments that require a bit more technical skill, which will be sung by a smaller chamber choir. if someone just loves to sing, they will be able to sing the majority of the Mass of the Americas in Mexico, and if someone is a more trained singer (has a degree in music or professional musician) they may be asked if they would be willing to learn two additional songs. But my hope is that we can truly put together a true cross section of musicians from all parts of the country, from the big cathedrals and the small parish choirs to even singular cantors from smaller churches, to represent the United States in this historic celebration of the 500th anniversary of Our Lady of Guadalupe. 

La Rocca’s Mass of the Americas is already a celebration of everything surrounding Our Lady of Guadalupe, and not only is having an American festival choir sing at the basilica a historic event (for it is rare that foreign choirs are granted permission to sing for any of the liturgies there) but perfectly answers this new call from Pope Francis celebrating the event causing the world’s largest mass conversion after the resurrection of Christ himself.

Maggie Gallagher is the executive director of the Benedict XVI Institute, which is the sponsor of Project Guadalupe 2031. 

LISTEN

Selections from Frank La Rocca’s Mass of the Americas:

Aue Maria

El Cantico del Alba