What’s Behind The Pope’s Confession Tour?

[DonViejo]

Candida Moss

Francis’s apologies for the sins of colonialism in Bolivia are as much about the future as they are about the past.

Pope Francis has been on a “homecoming” tour in Latin America. During his trip to Bolivia on Thursday, the Pontiff apologized for sins and “offenses” committed by the Catholic Church in the past. In particular, Francis referred to those crimes perpetrated against indigenous peoples during the colonial period. The request for forgiveness took place during a meeting with activists, representatives of indigenous groups, and Bolivia’s first indigenous president, Evo Morales.

As Francis himself noted, this was not the first time that the Church has taken responsibility for the “grave sins… committed … in the name of God.” Church leaders in the region had acknowledged the Church’s shortcomings. And, in a 1992 visit to the Dominican Republic, Pope John Paul II apologized for the “pain and suffering” caused by the Church’s presence there.

To an extent, as a number of commentators have noted, Francis’s request went further than those of his predecessors. Francis asked for forgiveness “not only for the offenses of the Church herself, but also for crimes committed against the native people during the so-called conquest of America.” The reference to the experience of colonialism is undoubtedly welcome. Francis here draws attention to the broader and far-reaching impact of colonialism on the lives of indigenous people in the region.

At the same time, he subtly distinguishes between the crimes of the Church and the crimes of colonialism, a rhetorical move that obscures the ways that Christian theology fed into and nurtured European colonialism.

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http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2015/07/12/what-s-behind-the-pope-s-confession-tour.html