(Catholic.net, August 2, 2016).- At the beginning of the year, I was surprised by the phone call of my friend, Jose Manuel Canepa, who asked me if I had already read the cover feature of the December 2015 issue of National Geographic.  My reply was negative.  Thus, he suggested I buy the magazine and read the article, since it appeared very interesting and compelling. I spent several days looking for the magazine at different locations of the store.  He directed me to (HEB) without success; I also looked in other commercial chain stores, but the issue was already sold out.  I had to ask for the help of another good friend of mine, Eliud de la Cruz, who is in charge of information technology at the Engineering Company, and my dear friend Ricardo J. Araujo.

© National Geographic Society

Eliud helped me search for the article on the Internet, download the piece, and print it so I could read it carefully and thoroughly, only to find a number of elements that deserved a detailed analysis.

In short, the article written by Moureen Orth –to which title I am adding the question mark, presents the most impressive human phenomenon I have ever read about a woman: Mary, born in Israel approximately 20 centuries ago in a small town named Nazareth, who having declared herself “the Lord’s servant” (Lk 1, 38) –being one of the virgins of the temple, later became the Mother of Jesus.  The believers in these truths account for 1,254 million Catholics (including Orthodox Catholics), representing 17.1% of the world population estimated figure of 7,530 million by the end of 2015.

© National Geographic Society

is very impressive to graphically visualize her apparitions since 1,531 year in which she appeared on the ‘Tepeyacac’ mountain to the indigenous Juan Diego, telling him: “I am the ever perfect Holy Virgin Mary, Mother of the True God, through which you shall live” (NM, 26), to the present day, showing a clear incidence in the last century in the order of 2,000 reported worldwide.