By Mark and Louise Zwick

Pope Benedict XVI was criticized when he said at the V General Conference of CELAM in Aparecida, Brazil, that the evangelization of Latin America did not impose a foreign culture, but brought to fullness and purified the indigenous religions, where God had already been present. While there has been in recent years an emphasis on respect for all religions, including indigenous religions, one can hardly deny the need for purification of old religions in terms of some practices, e.g., human sacrifice.

Benedict was not speaking in a positive way of the cruel practices of the conquistadores, just as the defenders of indigenous religions would not defend the enslavement of some tribal peoples by other indigenous groups. Rather, he expressed in theological terms the relationship between faith and culture: Christ, being in truth the incarnate Logos, "love to the end", is not alien to any culture, nor to any person; on the contrary, the response that he seeks in the heart of cultures is what gives them their ultimate identity, uniting humanity and at the same time respecting the wealth of diversity, opening people everywhere to growth in genuine humanity, in authentic progress. The Word of God, in becoming flesh in Jesus Christ, also became history and culture.”

It is easier for us to understand the Holy Father's remarks when we reflect on the key to the evangelization of Latin America, Our Lady of Guadalupe, who appeared in “New Spain” in 1531 and transformed the whole religious and cultural landscape. The bishops and priests had been trying to bring Christianity to the people, in this case notably the Franciscans in the area of what is now Mexico City, but the efforts of these good men were hampered by the cruel practices of the conquistadores. They failed miserable. There were very few converts. History is a witness of the allergy to conversion of the people in the early years of the conquest.

The evangelization was perpetrated by God through Our Lady of Guadalupe. She is the one who brought the faith to millions—and without military might. Where Spaniards had failed in attempting to convert Mexicans, the Blessed Mother who appeared to Juan Diego succeeded. If there was any force, it was on her part—the force of love for the poorest, for those who suffer.

If anyone forced evangeli-zation, it was Our Lady of Guadalupe who impacted the Mexican people so strongly that they could not escape her mantle. The force of conversion was provided through God's love when the force of conquistadores failed who tried baptism by blood.

At the time of the conquest, when Juan Diego lived, many of the invaders thought the indigenous people did not even have souls and that therefore did not have the right to own anything and should be subject. They were treated badly and enslaved. They were forbidden to speak their own language. With the conquistadores, however, came missionaries who wanted to share their faith with them. It was hard going, of course, because of the terrible treatment they were receiving. Only a very few natives had become Christian.

One of those who had become Catholic was Juan Diego, who had been baptized and frequently received the sacraments. Devotion to Mary, the mother of Jesus, the Mother of God, was very much a part of the evangelization in Christ which Juan Diego had received.

The missionaries defended the natives, especially Franciscan Bishop Zumárraga of Mexico City (The book by Eduardo Chavez Sanchez, Juan Diego, Una Vida de Santidad que Marcó la Historia; Mexico City, Editorial Porrúa, 2002 recounts in detail this history). Eduardo Chavez Sanchez was the postulator for Juan Diego's cause, and he presented research from original sources from the time of Juan Diego.

According to Chavez, Hernán Cortés and the other conquistadores attended Mass where Bishop Zumárraga celebrated. When he began to denounce the cruel behavior of the conquistadores week after week, Cortés and the others simply stopped going to Mass. Because of his strong critique of injustices on the part of those in charge of the government, the Bishop was threatened and lies were made up about him to discredit him and to try to have him replaced.

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