Sun 11 October 2020:
Mexico’s president asked Pope Francis, in a letter released Saturday, to apologize for the role played by the Catholic Church in the oppression of indigenous people during the Spanish conquest of Mexico in the 1500s.
“The Catholic Church, the Spanish monarchy and the Mexican government should make a public apology for the offensive atrocities that indigenous people suffered,” President Manuel Andres Lopez Obrador wrote in the letter posted online.
Se entrevistó Beatriz con el papa Francisco, a quien respeto y admiro como dirigente religioso y jefe de Estado. Me comentó que la trató con afecto y expresó su voluntad de mantener buenas relaciones por el bien del pueblo. Aquí la carta que le escribí: https://t.co/mEGZAdAaAc pic.twitter.com/x0fG2NpHJj
— Andrés Manuel (@lopezobrador_) October 10, 2020
“They 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,” he said.
The president asked the pope’s statement to be made in favor of Miguel Hidalgo, the 19th-century leader of the Mexican War of Independence.
“I think it would be an act of humility and at the same time greatness,” for the church to reconcile posthumously with Hidalgo, Lopez Obrador wrote.
The letter, dated October 2, was delivered to the pope by the president’s wife, Beatriz Gutierrez Muller.
The Catholic church played a key role as Spain colonised the Americas and spread its empire, setting up missions to convert indigenous people to Christianity.
The letter was delivered to the pope by López Obrador’s wife, Beatriz Gutiérrez Müller, who met with him at the Vatican following a meeting she had on Friday with Italian president, Sergio Mattarella.
“They 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.”
López Obrador made a similar request last year in a letter to Spain’s King Felipe and the pope, but the Spanish government rejected the petition outright.
The pope did apologise in 2015 to Bolivia over the church’s role in oppression in Latin America during the Spanish colonial era.
In this month’s letter to the Vatican, López Obrador requested the return of three codices, including the Codex Borgia, an especially colourful screen-fold book spread across dozens of pages that depicts gods and rituals from ancient central Mexico.
The president had made a similar request in 2019, in a letter to Spain’s King Felipe and the pope. The Spanish government, however, rejected the petition arguing that the actions of Spain 500 years ago could not be condemned in contemporary terms.
The Vatican, at the time, did not comment, and instead pointed to the past statements of the pope.
During a trip to Bolivia in 2015, Pope Francis prayed for forgiveness for crimes committed in the name of the church, against America’s indigenous peoples during the colonial era.
Mexico takes down Columbus statue
In Mexico City on Saturday, authorities removed a statue of Christopher Columbus two days before protesters planned to knock it down during events commemorating the Italian navigator’s arrival in the Americas.
The culture ministry said the statue was removed from Reforma Avenue on the request of city officials, adding it was taken down for restoration.
Activist groups had organised a protest called “We’re going to knock it down” for Monday, 12 October, the date of Columbus’ arrival in America in 1492.
