THE PAPAL MONARCHY IN CONFLICT WITH THE DEFENDERS OF THE PEOPLE OF GOD

The Zapatista rebellion against NAFTA January 1, 1994 hit me front and center during our recent visit to family in Chiapas, Mexico.  I was also reminded of the role of the local Catholic Church struggling to bring justice and peace to the area. History records that the Pope in Rome significantly challenged these efforts in Chiapas ever since the ‘conquista.’  This article is a glimpse at the struggles of Bishops Samuel Ruiz (1924 - 2011) and Bartolomé de Las Casas (1484 - 1566), both considered as spokes persons for the indigenous people. 

   The Vatican II document on the Church, Lumen Gentium presents the faithful with a dilemma.  In the first chapter it states that the people of God are inspired by the Holy Spirit (The Spirit dwells in the church and in the hearts of the faithful as in a temple.) yet in the second chapter it insists that the people of God must obey the pope. (…the sacred primacy of the Roman Pontiff and of his infallible teaching authority, this sacred Synod again proposes to be firmly believed by all the faithful. … the successor of Peter, the Vicar of Christ).

Plaque in the main Plaza de San Cristobal de las Casas, Chiapas

     Bartolomé de Las Casas, an early Bishop of Chiapas, was known as a defender of the indigenous people of America.  He was a secular priest and a landowner in Cuba. After a personal awakening he became an associate of the Dominican community in Hispanola that in 1511 condemned the Spanish ‘Conquista’ saying the ‘conquistadores’ had no legal right to subject the indigenous people to slavery and to take their land and treasure.  The response from the Church and Spain was swift and negative.  Las Casas joined the Dominicans in 1522.

   Las Casas challenged fellow Dominican friar Francisco de Vittoria who claimed that the Spanish had the right to wage war on the indigenous if they seemed to reject the Spanish quest for treasure and land.

   Popes of the ‘conquista’ refused to comprehend what Las Casas reported and failed to stop the violation of indigenous humanity in the Americas.  Following de Vittoria, they supported a theology of colonialism as a path to salvation for all.  From experience Las Casas saw it as hell itself for all.

Bishops Vera Lopez (left) and Ruiz (right)

    The controversial Bishop Samuel Ruiz García was appointed Bishop of the diocese of San Cristobal de Las Casas in 1959 by Pope John XXIII.  He was a delegate to Vatican II (1962 – 1965) and participated in the Latin American Bishops conference in Medellin, Columbia in 1968.  Vatican II emphasized peace through justice and the importance of recognizing the events of history as a determinant of understanding Faith (‘the signs of the times’).  Medellin proclaimed the ‘preferential option for the poor’.  The Vatican II – Medellin theology of Don Samuel was reminiscent of that of his predecessor Bartolomé de Las Casas the namesake of the diocese.

    Although the Medellin conference recognized the structural violence to the poor by the world economic system it rejected the option for violence in the quest for justice.  Bishop Ruiz was opposed to armed action.  He agreed with the Zapatista’s opposition to the neo-liberal trade agreement NAFTA and also their insistence on justice for the indigenous, but he opposed violence as a means.

   The colonial system of the 16^th century moved to free trade liberalism then to free trade neo-liberalism of the 20^th and 21^st centuries.  All of these systems weighted the scale in favor of the wealthy and powerful and were a catalyst for war.

     Since Don Samuel opposed the economic and political system that oppressed the poor; he generated powerful enemies including the Vatican.  Auxiliary Bishop Raul Vera Lopez, O.P. who was strong supporter and collaborator of Bishop Ruiz was considered to be Don Samuel’s successor and would continue his work when Ruiz retired.  However when Bishop Ruiz retired, Rome sent Vera Lopez to another diocese.

    The ‘low intensity war’ of the recent past has moved to a fragile tranquility with some armed violence but still without justice for the indigenous people.  The resistant Mayan communities in Chiapas continue dialogue with the world but have maintained their culture, languages, and in some cases, their autonomy. Pastor of St. Dominic’s Parish in San Cristobal de Las Casas, Fray Pablo Iribarren, O.P. wrote,

   My respect and admiration go out for the people of Tzotzil, especially those of San Juan Chamula.  Their history is a synthesis of the expression     resistance’, resistance to diverse external pressures in their existence as  a community – resistance to military conquest, resistance to religious and cultural imposition, resistance to structural changes social, political and religious.  (Pablo Iribarren, O.P. Mision Chamula, Chiapas, 2016, p. 8.)

   The importance of the indigenous people at the present time cannot be overstated.  The world needs their missionaries to teach us reverence and care for the environment.