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Will Pope Apologize to Mexico for Church Complicity during Spanish Conquest?

Will Pope Apologize to Mexico for Church Complicity during Spanish Conquest?

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The President of Mexico has written a letter to Pope Francis asking for an apology over the Catholic Church’s role in the brutal repression of indigenous people during the Spanish conquest of the Central American nation. Almost 500 years ago, the Spanish conquered the Aztec Empire, a historic event followed by the brutal exploitation and repression of the native peoples of what is now Mexico.

The letter is the latest in several initiatives by the Mexican President, Andrés Manuel López Obrador, to secure apologies from those deemed to be responsible for the inhumane treatment of the indigenous people. In 2019, he sent a letter to Spain asking for an apology for colonial-era abuses from the government and king. Reuters reports that his most recent letter “was delivered to the pope by López Obrador’s wife, Beatriz Gutiérrez Müller” after meeting the President of Italy. It was later published on social media. 2021 is the 500 th anniversary of the Spanish conquest of the Aztec Empire.

President López Obrador of Mexico has been accused by many for being a populist. The photo shows him at a rally in Mexico City. He has now written an open letter asking the Pope to apologize for the complicity of the Catholic church during the Spanish conquest. (ProtoplasmaKid / CC BY-SA 3.0)

President López Obrador of Mexico has been accused by many for being a populist. The photo shows him at a rally in Mexico City. He has now written an open letter asking the Pope to apologize for the complicity of the Catholic church during the Spanish conquest. (ProtoplasmaKid / CC BY-SA 3.0)

Atrocities Committed by Spanish Conquistadors in Mexico

In the letter President Obrador asked the Pope to apologize for the Catholic Church’s role in the atrocities committed by the Spanish Conquistadors during the colonial era. In the same letter, he reiterated his calls for the Spanish monarchy and government to apologize for the historic brutality and violence committed during the Spanish conquest. Obrador wrote that the native people “deserve not just that generous attitude on our part but also a sincere commitment that never again will disrespectful acts be committed against their beliefs and cultures. In 2015, the Pope apologized to the indigenous people of Bolivia for the Catholic Church’s role in their suppression.

Also, in the letter, the Mexican President asked the Pope to reconcile with Miguel Hidalgo (1753-1811). He was a priest and one of the leaders of the Mexican Independence movement in the early 19 th century and regarded as one of the Fathers of the Nation. ABC News explains that Hidalgo was “once believed to have been excommunicated by the church for his involvement in the uprising.” This has since been proven to be untrue, but many in Mexico believe that the Catholic Church has been unfair to Hidalgo. According to The Washington Post, the letter states that the Mexican President thinks “it would be an act of humility and at the same time greatness” for the church to reconcile posthumously with Hidalgo.

Portrait of Miguel Hidalgo by Antonio Fabrés. (Public domain)Famous mural painting of Hidalgo by the Mexican muralist José Clemente Orozco, at the Government Palace in Guadalajara. (Posztós János / Adobe Stock)

Miguel Hidalgo was a Spanish Roman Catholic priest, who became a hero of the Mexican War of Independence for fighting against the greed and cruelty of the Spanish conquistadors. After being captured he was defrocked, excommunicated and executed, his head put on display in Guanajuato until the end of the war. On the left: Portrait of Miguel Hidalgo by Antonio Fabrés. (Public domain) On the right: Famous mural painting of Hidalgo by the Mexican muralist José Clemente Orozco, at the Government Palace in Guadalajara. (Posztós János / Adobe Stock)

Church Accused of Complicity in Repression of Mexican Indigenous Peoples

The Conquest of Mexico led to a massive loss of life among the indigenous people by war, famine and especially disease. Many of the native population were reduced to a status of near-slavery.  During the Spanish colonization of the Americas, the Church set up missions which played an important role in the Europeans systematic exploitation of the native people. The Catholic Church gave the Conquistadors the moral authority to carry out their atrocities. It also played a critical role in the religious persecution of the native peoples, which destroyed their religion and much of their culture.

According to The Guardian, in the letter the President specifically asks for the return to Mexico of a number of indigenous manuscripts or codices and Aztec maps that are presently held in the Vatican Library. One of them is the “Codex Borgia, an especially colorful screen-fold book spread across dozens of pages that depicts gods and rituals from ancient central Mexico,” reports the Hindustan Times.

The Codex Borgia is regarded as one of the masterpieces of pre-Aztec art. The Hindustan Times also states that the “Catholic authorities in colonial-era Mexico dismissed such codices as the work of the devil and ordered hundreds or even thousands of them burned.” The President proposed that these priceless works are loaned to Mexico for one year in 2021, a year that marks 500 years since the Spanish conquest of Mexico began.

Pope Francis dedicated his February 2016 tour of Mexico to speaking with marginalized people. Will he now apologize to the Mexican people for the role the Catholic Church played in the Spanish conquest? (Aleteja Image Department / CC BY 2.0)

Pope Francis dedicated his February 2016 tour of Mexico to speaking with marginalized people. Will he now apologize to the Mexican people for the role the Catholic Church played in the Spanish conquest? (Aleteja Image Department / CC BY 2.0)

Commemorating Genocide During the Conquest of Mexico

DW states that “the Mexican president's call to the pope is part of the preparations to commemorate in 2021 the 500th anniversary of the 1519-1521 conquest.” During the conquest and later, the pre-Hispanic population collapsed and many regarded the early period of Spanish colonization as a genocide. Obrador, who is seen as a nationalist, is planning a series of commemorations to mark the Spanish conquest in 1521. His plans have proven controversial. The Vatican has yet to formally reply to the requests of the President in the letter.

Top image: Painting by Jan Karel Donatus Van Beecq showing the imprisonment of Montezuma by Cortés during the Spanish Conquest of Mexico. Source: Public domain.

By Ed Whelan

 

Comments

Hi Ajax,

I am not surprise by the stolen Books at the hands of
The Early Catholic Church I think at this time every body was vying for Power same time Books get taken by The Early Church The Gnostics are being terrorized.

Then there was that Time with The Waldensian's living in Northern, Italy and what happened to them which was Eulogized by The English Poet Milton.

Taking away the Scriptures on the other hand was so The Early Church could spoon feed the masses what They wanted Them to Learn from The Papacy and not necessarily;
The Bible.

In fact it was illegal for People to even Read The Bible. If one was caught reading The Scriptures you could be executed for such an offense.

I have been reading The Catholic Bible, I go online to read it for Free I found out 78 Sacred Text is In its page's. I was interested in The Book of Tobit & The Book of The Maccabees.

I learned that these two Books are found in The Ethiopian Orthodox Bible.

Do you happen to know Ajax if there is an Orthodox Bible as I've mentioned in only aware of The Ethiopian Orthodox Bible ?

Thank God Almighty; the Early Catholic Church never got their Hands on that Bible, The Ethiopian Orthodox Bible, it has over 87 Books within its page's.

There was a story that aired on NBC's Nightly News with Lestor Holt about the existence of The Slave Bible in America it pique my interest since I'm African American.

So the early Catholic Church took the Orthodox Churches Book's?

In America The Slaves were read to an preached too from The Slave Bible. The strange thing is that The Book of Exodus was removed from The Slave Bible altogether. Those who owned slaves did not want that Book about God and Moses in there.

I wonder why we're the Owner's so apprehensive about Exodus and key Bible Verses in Jeremiah where God warned against denying A Man his wages, or holding A Man and his Family indefinably was unlawful.

I suppose The Slave Bible it morphs in comparison too
the Early Day's of The dominating Church of The Land.

I admit I only found out about The Gospel of Thomas; from The Suspenseful thriller, Stigmata, during its Ending Credits.
I just hope Gabriel Byrne's Character became Episcopalian after that experience.

This is all I have to share with you Ajax on this Topic; so until next time, probably with another article, Goodbye!

Not in a million years. The Roman Catholic Church in the past has subjected the people to punishment that those of today do not know. From time that Rome acknowledge the Christian Religion The church set up a system to bring the entire world under it’s rule. History shows this. The teachings of John the Baptist,Jesus,Paul and others have been obscured to establish a religion not a spiritual state which the previous group started as teachings of a method to attain. Look at Socrates who after his 24 hour illumination was shortly after put to death because he taught truth instead of the teaching of the Gods which the rulers laid had into law. This same system brought about the rule of religion in Rome. The church did not teach as the Apositles did but set rules that would allow them to rule the world. This went on until Martin Luther and after. You would be imprisoned,tortued or killed if you did not submit to the church and it’s rules. It was somewhat easy to convince the natives to accept the teachings of the priest which the invaders brought with them since the priest told them that they were the messanger from the past time when another  human,a son of the Gods had already been slain for their shortcomings and it was no longer necessary that they kill another for their sins. They then set up the rules that the natives had to live by which included working for them. The Roman Church has been the cause of death for more people than any war that has been carried out. 

Today as in the past this church would not recognise the teachings of Jesus or any other Illuminati but would do whatever they could to silence him. 

If I remember right, Paul taught an Egyptian who achieved illumination and he went back,taught others and they established the Eastern Orthordox Church which taught the method and had writings of the mental process. The Roman Church centuries later sent a deligation to inquire about this method to compare it with their religion. They researched and asked for the scrolls to take back to Rome to show the Pope. The scrools were never seen again and were probably destroyed since they never were in line with the man made teachings of the church.

It's a damn shame what the church and the Spanish did by conquering the Aztecs. As a result, there is almost no place in the western hemisphere left today where you can go to perform human sacrifices.

Modern anthropology tells us all cultures are morally equal. In fact, human sacrifice was once popular throughout many cultures worldwide. Where are we supposed to go today if we are in the mood to engage in a little cannibalism, or maybe wear a suit made of human flesh? How about just a giant rack of human skulls in the center of town? How dare the church attempt to impose their morality upon these people?

Hello Ed,

Somehow I doubt the Catholic Church will apologize for what was done in Africa, in the America's the on behalf of The Vatican and Spain.

It seems to be an persistent pattern of sweeping under the rug the infamous skeletons in the closet by many countries.

I suppose in the case of Divine Justice like straight out of The Bible; some not all of the Conquistadors, and Priest died in some form or another in obscure poverty.

At least, that's what I had read about Cortez; that's also why, I said some died in abjective poverty not all after everything they did on behalf of Spain and The Catholic Church.

I'm reminded of a catch phrase taught to me by a genius History teacher...

What is the Significance of 1492? I was introduced to that phrase on the First Day of class and that question has since stuck with Me.

I learned in 1492, about the change in power in Spain; the Moors no longer held power Isabel and Ferdinand successfully kicked them out.

Introduced National Pride for All Spaniards

Followed Portugal in the long tragic history of The Middle Passage The Mid-Transatlantic Slave Trade from Africa; this action by the Spanish Monarch was to usher in Trade & Commerce.

Outlaw Jews, Muslims ☪, non-Catholics living in Spain to sum up the word for this Jim Crow Laws are put in place in Spain against these diverse group's.

Although, Spain most likely used a different word to alienate these particular groups in Spain oh and by the way this is why The Spanish Inquisition got started in 1492.

Archeologist and anthropologist have unearthed evidence some places in Mexico where The Spanish Inquisition did not stay in Spain but was brought to The New World.

Coincidentally, some of Cortez top crew men were born in the year 1492 as well.

Getting back to topic at hand No I don't believe the Catholic Church will ever apologize for what happened in the America's on their behalf.

Well Ed this certainly is a thought provoking article thank you for sharing this one so until next time I look forward to reading more of your articles Goodbye!

Ed Whelan's picture

Ed

My name is Edward Whelan and I graduated with a PhD in history in 2008. Between 2010-2012 I worked in the Limerick City Archives. I have written a book and several peer reviewed journal articles. At present I am a... Read More

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