Dec. 3, 2003

The ongoing construction and programs of the Shrine of Our Lady of Guadalupe in La Crosse should not be affected by the departure next month of Bishop Raymond L. Burke to the Archdiocese of St. Louis, shrine leaders said Tuesday.
"Our bishop has laid a good foundation, and we intend to follow his vision in all respects," said Jeanne Pavela, vice president of the shrine board of directors.

Burke is the founder and president of the partially completed shrine, which opened with a pilgrim';s center and votive chapel in December 2002 on an 80-acre bluffside site along Hwy. 14-61 between Hwy. MM and Justin Road.

The $25 million project, which is being paid for with private funds, drew considerable criticism by some Catholics in the diocese after it was announced in December 1999. Burke proposed the shrine to provide a place for prayer and spiritual growth.

Sister Christa Marie Halligan, who was hired earlier this year as the shrine director, said architectural design work is progressing on the 350-seat church, which is to be built at the top of the bluff. Ground-breaking is expected next spring, she said. Construction is expected to take at least two years.

Work also is progressing on the blacktop walking path, which eventually will lead to the church.

More than 6,000 visitors in groups have come to the shrine since April, Halligan said. No count of individual visitors has been kept.

The pilgrim's center includes a temporary chapel/meeting area, gift shop and restaurant, and has been the site of several programs including a traveling display of the Shroud of Turin during Holy Week.

The next major event planned at the shrine is an 8 a.m. Mass and celebration Dec. 12 to commemorate the feast day of Our Lady of Guadalupe, Halligan said. Archbishop-elect Burke will preside at the Mass. Afterward, there will be a dedication of five paintings depicting each of the five apparitions of Our Lady of Guadalupe, she said. Guadalupita Ortiz, the Mexican artist who did the paintings, will be present.

Burke also will preside at an evening Mass that day at Cathedral of St. Joseph the Workman, Halligan said.

Both Halligan and Pavela said they were pleased by Burke's appointment, but expected it because of Burke's reputation as a highly respected bishop.

"I knew in due time it would happen and we thank every day that we have had him," Pavela said, adding that she wishes him well in St. Louis.

"He is one to say yes to what he is called to do," she said. "He's a good example to the rest of us who try to say yes to what we are called to do."