Dec. 28, 2000

James and Kathleen Fuchsel of Onalaska brought their three young children Wednesday to witness the blessing of the site of the proposed $25 million Shrine to Our Lady of Guadalupe.
"We wouldn't miss this for anything," said Kathleen Fuchsel. "I'm so excited for my children to grow up with a shrine right here in our own area. Even if they don't understand why we're here today, growing up in this area they certainly will come to realize the blessing the shrine site will bestow upon them and others."

The three Fuchsel children — Pamela, 3, Jill, 6 and Charles, 5 — did seem more interested in the food served at the reception after the ceremony, but they paused to examine the picture cards they received of the shrine's namesake.

"Our Lady of Guadalupe," Jill Fuchsel said, promptly identifying the image, which portrays Jesus' mother Mary as a native Mexican woman.

The 20-minute ceremony, which included a formal blessing by Bishop Raymond L. Burke with a sprinkling of holy water, was held in a tent at the base of the blufftop site on land off Hwy. 14-61 in Mormon Coulee.

"It's just been a beautiful day," Burke said after the event. "The Lord gave us the sunshine, and the wind wasn't blowing; we had a good turnout of people from all over the diocese. We're off to a good start, but there's a lot of work ahead."

Burke, who announced the project in December 1999, said nearly $19 million has been raised so far in pledges and donations. More intensive fund-raising is planned, now that all the governmental and legal paperwork has been completed, he said.

Besides the $25 million for construction, scheduled to begin in spring 2001, another $5 million will be used to set up an endowment for maintenance and operations, bringing the total cost to $30 million

For Burke and many of the more than 100 people who attended, the ceremony was an answer to their prayers, signifying an end to the yearlong wait to complete the paperwork necessary for construction.

The process was concluded earlier this month with La Crosse's annexation of an access road to the site. The site itself, 80 acres between Justin Road and Hwy. MM that had been donated by Lucille Swing and her family, was annexed by the city earlier in the year.

Luna Chou of La Crosse, who visited the Shrine to Our Lady of Guadalupe in Mexico City about 10 years ago, said it is important that people have a shrine closer to home where they can express their devotion because not everyone can go to Mexico or other pilgrimage sites.

"If they can't go on the great Jubilee pilgrimages, they have a place closer where they can receive all the graces and experience the sense of universality that can bring people of faith together," Chou said.

Kathi Hancock, a mother of five who attends Blessed Sacrament Parish in La Crosse, said she's heard people complain the project is too costly and the money would be better spent to help the poor, but she believes the spiritual benefits will be worth it.

"The things and the niceness are to glorify God, and I think when people pray, it opens their hearts to being more generous and kind to their fellow neighbors," Hancock said.

"I think there'll be a lot of benefit to many people."