This particular apparition has some strong evidence in its favor; but other FReepers have posted lots of links, so I encourage you to train you critical eye on it, and evaluate things for yourself.
Here's a reasonable hypothesis of why Christ's mother--- if this is His mother---- would want to emphasize so much her own motherhood. And that would be hinted at by the location of her visit. It was the hill of Tepeyac, where previously there had been the pyramid of the Aztec goddess Tonantzin, which means simply "Venerable Mother."
The Aztecs had as great an interest in and reverence for sacred realities as did the pagan Greeks at Areopagus. But it's hard for us even to grasp the profound humiliation and disorientation they suffered when their whole society was shattered by this utterly alien invasion and conquest. It would be very hard for them to accept Christ from the aliens at Castilian knifepoint; Christianity would be seen as something that almost deified the Spanish, while annihilating the Aztec.
So it was necessary for them to be evangelized by "one of their own," so to speak. And thus Mary came, very young, very dark, very much NOT a goddess, hands folded reverently and eyes meekly downcast, using elaborate Aztec iconographic aymbolism to tell them --- as Paul told the Greeks at Mars Hill --- who their "unknown god" really is.
Don't be misled by thinking her whole message is in her words. It's all in her visual symbolism. She is not the Supreme Being. But she is carrying Him.
The fact that she wanted a 'temple' under the authority of Bishop Zumarraga clearly means she wanted to draw people into the church of the Christians, for here many millions have encountered Christ.
If it were not for her, I believe the Mesoamerican people would overwhelmingly be Huitzilopochtli-worshippers to this day.
In fact, thinking of the titanic struggle going on in Mexico even now as we speak, with their vile government oppressing the poor (abort them or export them!), rapidly and comprehensively embracing the Culture of Death (legalizing abortion, promoting contraception, honoring perverse sexuality, and prostitution) I suspect Huitzilopochtli is still a strong contender.
Give a thought to the significance of that snake under Mary's foot. "I will put enmity between you and the woman, between your seed and hers..."
I would suggest the Catholic Church has gone positively wacky with Mary. Even the Orthodox roll their eyes over the Marian doctrine that has been coming out of the Church for the last 200 years. People are seeing Mary more often (thousands of reported sightings yearly) simply because Mary is hip.
It was very poor form for the Spainards to run into Central America to loot and plunder at the same time they were trying to convert the lost souls. However I sincerely doubt that Mary was, or would have been, more appealing to the people than the word of God. God's word, after all, is the power of salvation and the method by which He instills faith. Visions of Mary, while they make make everyone feel good, just doesn't have that type of power.
Milan hospital replaces crucifix with (statue of) Mary to please Muslims