Dec. 28, 2002

A Texas college professor has been named executive director of the Shrine of Our Lady of Guadalupe in La Crosse.
Mary Margaret Lynch will begin her duties at the shrine Jan. 6, said Bishop Raymond L. Burke of the Diocese of La Crosse.

Lynch and her husband, Michael, come to La Crosse from Bryan, Texas, where both are professors at Blinn College. Mary Lynch has undergraduate and graduate degrees in art and a certificate in German language and culture from the University of Heidelberg in Germany. She also has long experience teaching the Catholic faith, Burke said in a news release.

Lynch made her first pilgrimage to the Shrine of Our Lady of Guadalupe in Mexico after graduating from high school and has since spoken extensively in the United States and Europe about the apparitions and message of Our Lady of Guadalupe, Burke said. Lynch also has led many pilgrimages to shrines honoring Mary, the mother of Jesus, and other saints, Burke said.

He described Lynch as a "gifted and experienced writer, public speaker, educator, art historian and pilgrimage coordinator.

Burke also announced the resignation of Julie K. Hogan of J. Hogan Design Inc., as consultant for the shrine project. Hogan has advised the project committee in the areas of architecture, construction, interior decoration and graphic design.

Hogan was especially instrumental in bringing to completion the first phase of the $25 million project, the Pilgrim Center and Mother of Good Counsel Votive Chapel. Both buildings were dedicated Dec. 12, the feast day of Our Lady of Guadalupe.