Source: The Journal News

http://www.thejournalnews.com/newsroom/120603/a01p06juandiego.html

On December 6, 2003 The Journal News reported, "Four years after Pope John Paul II declared Our Lady of Guadalupe to be the patroness of not only Mexico but the Americas, New York's diverse Catholic community is demonstrating the growing devotion to the indigenous Mexican vision of the Virgin Mary. Hundreds came to St. Patrick's Cathedral yesterday to see a tiny piece of a cloak believed to have belonged to St. Juan Diego, the Aztec peasant who, according to Catholic tradition, saw a vision of the Virgin Mary in 1531 in what is now Mexico City. The half-inch square fragment is said to be from the very cloak on which appeared the image, soon known the world over as Our Lady of Guadalupe... The relic, which has been touring the United States since May, will be on display at St. Patrick's through tomorrow and is expected to draw big crowds. Cardinal Edward Egan will celebrate Mass in honor of the relic's visit."