Our Lady of the Exile

This book is a study of Cuban-American popular Catholicism, focusing on the shrine of Our Lady of Charity in Miami. Most non-Hispanic residents of Miami do not even know that the shrine exists, yet it is the sacred centre of the Cuban Community in exile. Founded in 1973, it is now the sixth largest pilgrimage site in the United States, annually attracting hundreds of thousands of pilgrims. Tweed uncovers not only why the shrine attained such importance and attracts so many visitors, but also what it can tell us about larger issues of religion, identity and place.