US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton visited the Shrine of Our Lady of Guadalupe in Mexico City over the weekend.

She admired the image, and asked who painted it.

The image of Our Lady of Guadalupe was miraculously imprinted by Mary on the tilma, or cloak, of St. Juan Diego in 1531. The image has numerous unexplainable phenomena, such as the appearance on Mary’s eyes of those present in the room when the tilma was opened and the image’s lack of decay.

So Msgr. Diego Monroy, who escorted Clinton at the shrine, explained the origin, and that it wasn’t painted by human hand.

Clinton then told Msgr. Monroy that she had previously visited the old Basilica in 1979, when the new one was still under construction.

Somehow, the story of this centuries-old devotion and its origin must have escaped her in that visit. But at least now she knows.

After placing a bouquet of white flowers by the image, Mrs. Clinton went to the quemador –the open air area at the Basilica where the faithful light candles- and lit a green candle.

Leaving the basilica half an hour later, Mrs. Clinton told some of the Mexicans gathered outside to greet her, “you have a marvelous virgin!”

Actually, we. She may like to know that the Virgin of Guadalupe is also the patroness of the Americas, which includes the US.

She’s also known as the ‘patroness of the unborn’.

So what’s wrong with this picture?

This evening Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is set to receive the highest award given by Planned Parenthood Federation of America — the Margaret Sanger Award, named for the organization’s founder, a noted eugenicist.

Interesting. My friend Linda came across this while grappling with cultural arguments on different fronts over abortion, contraception, choice….as well as the Notre Dame commencement controversy. Our leaders of state continue to come into direct encounters with….Our Lady.