Hillary Clinton leaves flowers for Our Lady of Guadalupe, asks ‘Who painted it?’

http://www.catholicnewsagency.com/new.php?n=15511

During her recent visit to Mexico, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton made an unexpected stop at the Basilica of Our Lady of Guadalupe and left a bouquet of white flowers "on behalf of the American people," after asking who painted the famous image.

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.

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

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. The award will be presented at a gala event in Houston, Texas.

Ann Althouse blogs about the gaffe:

I'll say that I didn't know this story myself, but I do think that if I was representing our country and visiting any cultural site, I'd have somebody telling me what I needed to know not to look stupid from the perspective of those whose respect I wanted.

Here's a thought experiment:  Imagine what the press reaction would have been if President Bush had referred to Cinco de Mayo as the Mexican independence day (actually, it's September 16th, dieciséis de septiembre).  Most Americans would not have known the difference as a matter of fact, but in the eyes of the press, the mistake would have demonstrated an unforgivable lack of cultural sensitivity.