By WILL WEISSERT
Associated Press Writer

MEXICO CITY -- Hundreds of thousands of the faithful drove, walked and crawled Wednesday to a basilica honoring the Virgin of Guadalupe, Mexico's patron
saint. But for those who couldn't make it in person, Pope John Paul II launched a Web site allowing them to send their petitions by e-mail.

Using a laptop computer, the pope was the first official visitor to www.virgendeguadalupe.org.mx, an image-filled Web site featuring real-time Masses, a virtual
souvenir shop and a complete history of the 1531 appearance the Virgin is said to have made to a poor peasant at Tepeyac, in what is today northern Mexico City.

"It's incredible," Msgr. Diego Monroy, rector of the Basilica of Guadalupe, told the Televisa television network. "We've been working for six months to bring the
latest communication developments" to the faithful.

Despite the innovation, droves of worshippers crowded the basilica and the plaza outside, some traveling for days to reach the site where the Virgin is said to have
told the peasant, Juan Diego, to build a church in her honor.

Rosa Valazquez, 54, a housewife from Hidalgo state, rode a bus for 101/2 hours and then walked another eight hours through the overnight chill of Mexico City to
reach the basilica.

Shortly before reaching the door, she dropped to the ground and crawled the last few yards on her knees, covered only by a dirty, rainbow-colored skirt.

The basilica was packed with worshippers standing on tiptoe to catch a glimpse of a Mass that was inaudible over the drum beat of an Aztec dance ceremony
outside. Still, those inside made room as Valazquez arrived.

Valazquez said she was particularly thankful to the Virgin for protecting her husband, an illegal migrant who successfully made the trip back to Houston after a visit to
Mexico.

"The Virgin guided him on a trip that has killed so many others," Valazquez said. "The Virgin is the one that gives us power. She is the Mary of the lower classes."

Juan Devarege, a 24-year-old political science student from Mexico City, tore holes in his jeans while crawling on his knees about 200 yards across the plaza's
trash-strewn black asphalt plaza.

"I need to ask forgiveness because I am a sinner," Devarege said. "On this day of the year, we all feel so humble. We all feel so much love for our Virgin."

The gathering represented a portrait of Mexican society: Well-dressed families toting video cameras and eating ice cream rubbed shoulders with peasants wearing
threadbare shirts and dirty hats and clutching sack lunches of tortillas and corn mush.

Vendors also packed the plaza, selling everything from Virgin statues and altars to Guadalupe baseball caps. Many faithful arrived with framed images of the Virgin
strapped to their backs, stomachs and feet.

Oliver and Mary Torres arrived Tuesday night from the central city of Puebla, accompanied by their three children.

The family spent the night sleeping on flattened cardboard boxes piled with Winnie-the-Pooh sleeping bags. They woke to a sunny day and skies unusually clear for
this notoriously polluted city.

"We want to show our children, show the ones that we love, that our Virgin is the most important person in their lives," Mary Torres said.

More than 300 people were treated Wednesday for fatigue and gastrointestinal disorders, the Red Cross said. One pilgrim was killed after being hit by a car while
riding his bike through Mexico City toward the basilica.

A cloak said to be Diego's -- stamped with a 51/2-by-31/2-foot image of the olive-skinned Virgin -- is the centerpiece of the hilltop basilica.

Historians have questioned whether Diego and the Virgin ever existed, arguing that both were invented by Spanish conquerers looking to convert the Indian
population to Catholicism. Others maintain native Mexicans invented the story of Diego's vision in order to keep worshipping Tonantzin, an Aztec goddess whose
shrine was at Tepeyac.

Despite the controversy, Pope Juan Paul II has remained a supporter of the "La Virgincita," or "The Little Virgin," and even began to formally consider Diego for
sainthood in 1999.

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On the Net:

http://www.virgendeguadalupe.org.mx

Copyright 2001 Associated Press