Pope Francis' visit to Peru and Chile reignited discussions and controversies about the way the Church relates to its past and its trajectory in the New World. The first pope born in the Americas has a strong symbolism for Latin Americans and Francis, in the absence of great world leaders with some degree of sensibility, has stood out for his positions in defense of human rights, refugees and against inequalities. The visit to the Araucanía region, in southern Chile, and the pope's meeting with the mapuche [I] They are emblematic of the Church's ambiguity in relation to the continent's original peoples.
The Church arrived together with the Spanish conquerors. And part of it was critical of evangelization procedures and the way in which indigenous peoples were exploited. Another part, however, was immersed in strategies of colonization and domination. The first voices that rose in defense of the indigenous people were from religious people, in the 16th century. And, currently, there are large segments of the Catholic universe involved in the defense of indigenous peoples and cultures.
Las Casas and the indigenous issue
The chronicle of friar Bartolomé de Las Casas (1484-1566) is one of the main accounts of the colonization of America undertaken by the Spanish from 1492 onwards. Consolidated throughout the Middle Ages, the chronicle produced by religious mendicants had two main purposes: to praise Christianity and report how religious discourse was established in a given circumstance. The memorable deeds of religious people and their missionary action, as well as their institutions, formed the basis of the reports that would be presented by the chronicler.
The success of Lascas's narrative can be verified by the repeated editions of his work Brief Relation of the Destruction of the Indias, from 1542. The report helped to build a vision about the destruction of the indigenous people in America and to discuss legislation and procedures that changed the recognition of rights for other peoples who did not belong to the same culture, faith or ethnicity.
The objective of the Brief, as the title indicates, was to denounce the action of the Spanish conquest in the various provinces and regions of the New World, exposing the decimation of indigenous peoples and request the suspension of parcels, which were a work regime in which entire indigenous communities were under the care of a Spaniard (I order) who could use the labor of the Indians in exchange for their catechization.
For Las Casas, the violence, exploitation and decimation of the Indians was an affront to natural law and Christian faith. To avoid this colonizing practice, the friar acted as a religious and writer, getting involved in several episodes that influenced the lives of colonists, Indians and the Crown of Castile itself.
In Lascas's description, the Indians were mild, kind and docile. Such an image, associated with an idyllic virtuosity, close to that of man before original sin, according to Christian tradition, represented his own political annulment, as noted by professor Héctor Bruit. Docility and patience allowed sympathy and compassion for the victim and opened space for those who narrate the story, in this case, the clergyman. In other words, the model of virtue presented does not fit into the guise of revolt and disagreement in the face of the concrete experience of exploitation. Las Casas, after building his image of the Indian, presented himself as a legitimate defender of the indigenous people.
Back to Francisco and the mapuche
Os mapuche They make up 7% of the Chilean population, which represents just over 1 million people, and form communities that spread between Chile and Argentina. The communities resisted the presence and domination of Spain and the Chilean State after independence. The group is far from the docility or passivity presented in the Lascasian account.
Forms of resistance mapuche against colonizers and against the Chilean State include actions such as setting fire to churches and public buildings. The main demand is for the recognition of the right to self-determination of peoples who consider themselves neither Chilean nor Argentinean. This issue, in addition to cultural recognition, comes up against themes such as the exploitation of land and wealth by the State and large business groups.
Prejudice against mapuche, including those propagated by the press that has assimilated the discourse of the national State since the 19th century, reverberates in police violence against the original peoples. Dozens of activists have been murdered in recent years and the legal system is complicit in impunity for these crimes.
Francis' visit, in this case, is criticized both by more conservative Catholics and by Catholic leaders. mapuche. Indigenous leaders, like Rolando Jaramillo, leader of the Council of All Lands, don't want the pope to ask for a rhetorical pardon. John Paul II had already made this request in the context of the 500th anniversary of Columbus's arrival in the New World. Indigenous people want the Church to recognize itself as part of the genocide caused and to commit to doing justice, recognizing land rights and compensation for victims of the occupation of the territory mapuche.
Conservative Catholics, on the other hand, resent the Pope criticizing the Chilean state's violence against mapuche. Chile is the country with the smallest number of Catholics in Latin America, with just over 40% of the population, and with the largest number of people who declare themselves without religion on the continent. This profile differentiates the country from its other neighbors, where the decrease in Catholics has meant an increase in other denominations.
Francisco tried to repeat Las Casas: being critical of a situation, being part of an apparatus that is identified with one of the sides. The Pope criticized the two types of violence that exist today: that of the State and its police force that does not fulfill the promises made to the Mapuche and that of indigenous groups that attack and burn churches and buildings.
“There are two forms of violence”, said the Pope at the mass celebrated in Temuco, in front of 150 thousand people, on January 17th. “Firstly, drafting beautiful agreements that never come to fruition. This is also violence, because it frustrates hope. Secondly, a culture of mutual recognition cannot be built on violence and destruction, which ends up causing loss of human life. You cannot ask for recognition by annihilating others. Violence ends up making the most just cause a lie.”
Francisco's visit and Las Casas' reports have similarities: they recognize the disparity of forces and the impact on the indigenous people. Francisco, however, cannot remain silent in the face of the protagonism of mapuche, nor be a supposedly equidistant voice, as the mapuche They are not silenced by an idealized notion of docile and submissive people: they are the very resistance of what they think and want about their cultures and their lands.
The 16th century chronicle is current because it reveals what we imagine to have been like in a childish phase. The reality of Araucanía, in the 21st century, takes us out of the comfort zone of assuming the existence of a paradise. But if it exists, it has to be for everyone!
[I] The word Mapuche does not have a plural in the Mapudungun language.
