Monsignor Daniel Víctor Villalobos Ortiz has been appointed as the new rector of the Basilica of Our Lady of Guadalupe in Mexico City by Cardinal Carlos Aguiar Retes, the Archbishop of Mexico. Villalobos, who currently serves as an exorcist at the shrine, will lead the basilica into a new phase of pastoral and administrative renewal.
A canon of the basilica and episcopal vicar for the clergy since August 2024, Villalobos was named an exorcist for the Marian shrine in February of this year. The appointment was announced on July 12 by Cardinal Aguiar, who stated he acted “after hearing the proposals presented by the Venerable Chapter of Guadalupe and the Permanent Council of the Mexican Bishops’ Conference.”
Cardinal Aguiar commissioned the rector to guide the basilica through “a new phase of institutional and pastoral renewal, with the collaboration of all the priests, deacons, consecrated persons, and lay faithful who serve at this beloved shrine.” He also expressed gratitude to the outgoing rector, Monsignor Efraín Hernández Díaz, whose resignation he accepted.
According to the Archdiocese of Mexico, the basilica receives approximately 35 million pilgrims each year. During the Guadalupe celebrations in December 2025 alone, some 13 million visitors came to the shrine, according to figures from the Mexico City Government Secretariat.
Who is the new rector of the basilica?
Born in Mexico City on August 10, 1968, Villalobos was ordained a priest on July 12, 1998, at the basilica itself by Colombian Cardinal Darío Castrillón Hoyos, then-prefect of the Congregation for the Clergy. From 1997 to 2008, he served as an assistant to Cardinal Ernesto Corripio Ahumada, the then-archbishop emeritus of Mexico.
Throughout his ministry, Villalobos has held various pastoral assignments in parishes across Mexico City boroughs including Xochimilco, Tlalpan, Coyoacán, and Álvaro Obregón. In August 2024, he was appointed a canon of the basilica and episcopal vicar for the clergy of the Archdiocese of Mexico. Since February 2026, he has served as an exorcist at the basilica.
The start of ‘a phase to update and improve’
Cardinal Aguiar emphasized that the basilica “holds a privileged place in the life of our local Church and in the hearts of millions of pilgrims,” and that any decisions regarding it must strengthen its evangelizing mission of service to the people of God. “We have begun a phase of updating and improving administrative, operational, and pastoral processes at the Basilica of Guadalupe,” Aguiar said, drawing “as a reference the updates promoted by Pope Francis for the papal basilicas of St. Mary Major in Rome and St. Peter in the Vatican.”
This renewal, aimed at the Marian shrine housing the tilma bearing the miraculous image of Our Lady of Guadalupe from nearly 500 years ago, “will help distinguish the pastoral mission from administrative operations,” consolidating a “more efficient and organized” institution. Aguiar noted that various administrative and operational reviews have been conducted since last year, with the Mexican Bishops’ Conference, apostolic nunciature, and Holy See informed. “These reviews, routine in the life of any institution, have made it possible to identify opportunities to strengthen evangelization efforts, internal organization, and services provided daily to millions of pilgrims,” he said.
Cardinal Aguiar encouraged all to heed Our Lady’s words: “Let us allow the words that have sustained our people’s hope for nearly five centuries to resonate once more in our hearts: ‘Am I not here, I who am your mother?’”
This story was first published by ACI Prensa, the Spanish-language sister service of EWTN News. It has been translated and adapted by EWTN News English.
