Post by blackcrowheart on Jun 23, 2008 17:02:54 GMT -5
Brazil's Indians offended by Pope comments By Raymond Colitt
> Mon May 14, 3:15 PM ET
>
> news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20070514/wl_nm/pope_brazil_indians_dc
>
> Outraged Indian leaders in Brazil said on Monday they were offended by
> Pope Benedict's "arrogant and disrespectful" comments that the Roman
> Catholic Church had purified them and a revival of their religions
> would be a backward step.
>
> In a speech to Latin American and Caribbean bishops at the end of a
> visit to Brazil, the Pope said the Church had not imposed itself on
> the indigenous peoples of the Americas.
>
> They had welcomed the arrival of European priests at the time of the
> conquest as they were "silently longing" for Christianity, he said.
>
> Millions of tribal Indians are believed to have died as a result of
> European colonization backed by the Church since Columbus landed in
> the Americas in 1492, through slaughter, disease or enslavement.
>
> Many Indians today struggle for survival, stripped of their
> traditional ways of life and excluded from society.
>
> "It's arrogant and disrespectful to consider our cultural heritage
> secondary to theirs," said Jecinaldo Satere Mawe, chief coordinator of
> the Amazon Indian group Coiab.
>
> Several Indian groups sent a letter to the Pope last week asking for
> his support in defending their ancestral lands and culture. They said
> the Indians had suffered a "process of genocide" since the first
> European colonizers had arrived.
>
> Priests blessed conquistadors as they waged war on the indigenous
> peoples, although some later defended them and many today are the most
> vociferous allies of Indians.
>
> "The state used the Church to do the dirty work in colonizing the
> Indians but they already asked forgiveness for that ... so is the Pope
> taking back the Church's word?" said Dionito Jose de Souza a leader of
> the Makuxi tribe in northern Roraima state.
>
> Pope John Paul spoke in 1992 of mistakes in the evangelization of
> native peoples of the Americas.
>
> Pope Benedict not only upset many Indians but also Catholic priests
> who have joined their struggle, said Sandro Tuxa, who heads the
> movement of northeastern tribes.
>
> "We repudiate the Pope's comments," Tuxa said. "To say the cultural
> decimation of our people represents a purification is offensive, and
> frankly, frightening.
>
> "I think (the Pope) has been poorly advised."
>
> Even the Catholic Church's own Indian advocacy group in Brazil, known
> as Cimi, distanced itself from the Pope.
>
> "The Pope doesn't understand the reality of the Indians here, his
> statement was wrong and indefensible," Cimi advisor Father Paulo Suess
> told Reuters. "I too was upset."
>
>
>
> Mon May 14, 3:15 PM ET
>
> news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20070514/wl_nm/pope_brazil_indians_dc
>
> Outraged Indian leaders in Brazil said on Monday they were offended by
> Pope Benedict's "arrogant and disrespectful" comments that the Roman
> Catholic Church had purified them and a revival of their religions
> would be a backward step.
>
> In a speech to Latin American and Caribbean bishops at the end of a
> visit to Brazil, the Pope said the Church had not imposed itself on
> the indigenous peoples of the Americas.
>
> They had welcomed the arrival of European priests at the time of the
> conquest as they were "silently longing" for Christianity, he said.
>
> Millions of tribal Indians are believed to have died as a result of
> European colonization backed by the Church since Columbus landed in
> the Americas in 1492, through slaughter, disease or enslavement.
>
> Many Indians today struggle for survival, stripped of their
> traditional ways of life and excluded from society.
>
> "It's arrogant and disrespectful to consider our cultural heritage
> secondary to theirs," said Jecinaldo Satere Mawe, chief coordinator of
> the Amazon Indian group Coiab.
>
> Several Indian groups sent a letter to the Pope last week asking for
> his support in defending their ancestral lands and culture. They said
> the Indians had suffered a "process of genocide" since the first
> European colonizers had arrived.
>
> Priests blessed conquistadors as they waged war on the indigenous
> peoples, although some later defended them and many today are the most
> vociferous allies of Indians.
>
> "The state used the Church to do the dirty work in colonizing the
> Indians but they already asked forgiveness for that ... so is the Pope
> taking back the Church's word?" said Dionito Jose de Souza a leader of
> the Makuxi tribe in northern Roraima state.
>
> Pope John Paul spoke in 1992 of mistakes in the evangelization of
> native peoples of the Americas.
>
> Pope Benedict not only upset many Indians but also Catholic priests
> who have joined their struggle, said Sandro Tuxa, who heads the
> movement of northeastern tribes.
>
> "We repudiate the Pope's comments," Tuxa said. "To say the cultural
> decimation of our people represents a purification is offensive, and
> frankly, frightening.
>
> "I think (the Pope) has been poorly advised."
>
> Even the Catholic Church's own Indian advocacy group in Brazil, known
> as Cimi, distanced itself from the Pope.
>
> "The Pope doesn't understand the reality of the Indians here, his
> statement was wrong and indefensible," Cimi advisor Father Paulo Suess
> told Reuters. "I too was upset."
>
>
>