May 2008
Becoming Bicultural
A monthly column on Hispanic Heritage and Culture by
Richard CampbellAuthor of "Two Eagles in the Sun"
A priest's legacy
Spain’s legacy in the Americas is very mixed — with noble persons and golden culture, but also heartless conquerors of despicable brutality. Even some missionaries exhibited the arrogance of conquerors … but not all of them.
As the more enlightened of the friars pushed into South America and the southern regions of today’s United States in the 16th century, they (to quote “The Oxford History of Christianity”) “wandered barefoot with cross and breviary, preaching, ... reciting doctrine in rhymes, singing psalms to their own violin accompaniment, providing seeds for new crops, teaching new ways to build houses and bridges, and dying alone of sickness or savage cruelties.”
Among those religious who were beautiful examples of Christian devotion and courage, and also moral awareness, was one man, namely Bartolomé de las Casas (1484–1566). To know this man is an inspiration.
Some background. Remarkably, Spain’s New World Empire took fewer than 50 years to build. But after seizing the riches of Aztecs, Incas and others, Spain needed laborers in the silver mines to earn further profit from its empire. Natives toiled and often perished in the sweat and agony of those mines, suffering from disease, hunger and brutality. Such slaves were not even considered to be human beings. After all, Aristotle himself taught that some men are simply born to be slaves. At this point, we turn to the story of an exceptional person.
The man. Bartolomé’s father accompanied Columbus on the second voyage across the Atlantic; his son, Bartolomé, edited Columbus’s travel journal. That connection no doubt helped the 18-year-old youth in 1502 to become owner of a large plantation in Cuba (an encomienda with slave-labor gangs). He once admitted that he worked his slaves harder than he tried to teach them the faith. In 1507, he paradoxically received ordination as a priest, the first in the Americas.
His conversion. Then in 1514, as he prepared a sermon for Pentecost Sunday, his scripture text hit him like a two-by-four. As he read from the book of Ecclesiasticus 34:18, these words burned in his soul: “Stained is the offering of him that sacrificeth from a thing wrongfully gotten … an offering unjustly acquired is a mockery.” Another source places the change happening after Bartolomé heard a sermon by Fr. Antonio de Montesinos. In either case, after several days of soul-searching, his troubled conscience finally moved him to free all his slaves, sell his estate, and spend his next 50 years fighting for justice for New World Indians.
His work. Disillusioned after his first attempts to change conditions in the islands, he joined a Dominican order and, during those ten years, wrote voluminously to document the barbarity of Spain’s conquistadors. Later, he traveled frequently between the colonies and Spain, and constantly pestered the king to support his humanitarian efforts on behalf of Indians. Over the years, he continued his output of writings against the institution of slavery itself. He was largely responsible in 1542 for convincing the king to pass “The New Laws for the Indies,” which abolished slavery — laws that were rescinded two years later because of furious slaveholder opposition. But soon after those reform laws had been announced, at age 70, de las Casas briefly became the bishop of what is now the Mexican state of Chiapas. As is no surprise, his preaching against slavery and oppression did not sit well at all with slaveholders; some even tried to lynch him. So, he left his diocese and returned to Spain. In 1550, he participated in a famous debate about slavery with one Juan Ginés de Sepúlveda. He continued his writings of protest until 1566, when, at the age of 90, de las Casas died, no doubt both unsatisfied and disappointed.
His legacy. Martin Marty believed that de las Casas drew near “the outer limits of a new humanism,” where decent treatment of Indians was almost more important than conversion. Fittingly, Bartolomé’s statue stands today in Mexico City’s Zócalo, the central plaza, near the ancient cathedral, Catedral Metropolitana. De las Casas became known as the “official conscience” of Spain on behalf of the native tribes. He has been called “Protector of the Indians,” “Father of Liberation Theology,” anti-imperialist, anti-racist activist, missionary, priest, and defender of the oppressed. Whatever the most appropriate title, this good man deserves a place on the honor roll of Spaniards who, by their simple goodness and their struggle for justice, were exceptions to the incredible tragedies of la Conquista.
Richard Campbell’s “Two Eagles in the Sun” is available at The Bookery,
Barnes & Noble, b&n.com, amazon.com and twoeaglespress.com.
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Copyright 2008 by Cristo Rey Communications.