LA EVANGELIZACIÓN DE LATINO AMERICA

GOOD MORNING, I AM ALEJANDRA AND IM GOING TO TALK ABOUT THE EVANGELIZATION OF LATIN AMERICA. AS YOU CAN SEE, THIS TOPIC IS QUITE EXTENSIVE, SO IVE TRIED TO CAPTURE IN MY PRESENTATION THE MOST IMPORTANT ASPECTS.

SO… WHAT IS EVANGELIZATION?

IT IS THOUGHT THAT IT IS SIMPLY IMPARTING IN A THEORETICAL WAY THE BASIS OF CRISTIANITY OR EVEN FORCING OTHERS TO BELIEVE IN THAT RELIGION

, HOWEVER, EVANGELIZING IS TEACHING A COMMUNITY TO ACT AND LIVE IN A CONCRETE WAY, THE WAY CHRISTIANS INTERPRET REALITY.

IN SHORT, TO EVANGELIZE IS TO TRANSMIT THE CHRISTIAN FAITH TO OTHERS SO THAT THEY CAN INTRODUCE IT INTO THEIR DAILY LIVES, AND FOLLOW IN THE FOOTSTEPS OF JESUS

ONE DOUBT THAT ARISES IN THE STUDY OF THIS TOPIC IS WHETHER IT WAS POSSIBLE TO EVANGELIZE IN THE CONTEXT OF THE VIOLENT PRACTICE OF CONQUEST AND DOMINATION OVER THE OTHER.

SO, I HAVE TRIED TO ANSWER THIS QUESTION THROUGH THREE ASPECTS

IN THE FIRST PLACE WE HAVE THE APPROPRIATION, EUROPEAN CHRISTIANITY HAD BEEN APPROPRIATED BY EUROPEANS, MAKING IT DIFFICULT TO DIFFERENTIATE BETWEEN RELIGION AND CULTURE

THEN WE WOULD HAVE THE JUSTIFICATION, THE EUROPEANS USED RELIGION AS A JUSTIFICATION FOR ALL THEIR ACTIONS AGAINST THE "INFIDELS”

AND FINALLY, THE BEGINNING OF THE PROBLEM CAME WHEN IT BECAME IMPOSSIBLE TO DISTINGUISH BETWEEN WHETHER WHAT WAS BEING PREACHED WAS REALLY FAITH OR JUST A DOCTRINE JUSTIFYING DOMINATION

WHEN WE TALK ABOUT THE CHURCH IN THE COLONIES, WE CAN TALK ABOUT TWO TYPES OF INSTITUTIONS THAT MADE IT EASIER TO ORGANICE THE COLONIZATIONS.

THE ENCOMIENDAS AND THE REDUCTIONS

THE ENCOMIENDA: IN THE CONTEXT OF LATIN AMERICA, IT WAS AN INSTITUTION THAT CONSOLIDATE THE DOMINATION OF SPACE BY ORGANISING THE NATIVE PEOPLE AS A LABOUR FORCE TO BENEFIT THE CROWN. IT WAS THE MISSIONARIES THEMSELVES WHO TRIED TO FIGHT AGAINST THE EXCESSES OF THESE INSTITUTIONS.

THE REDUCTIONS: THEY CAN ALSO BE CALLED INDIAN VILLAGES, THEY WERE SETTLEMENTS OF INDIANS WHO HAD THE OBJECTIVE OF COLLECTING TAXES EFFECTIVELY, INSTRUCTING THE POPULATION IN CHRISTIANITY AND GIVING THEM A JOB.

AND, FINALLY, WE HAVE TWO IMPORTANT CHARACTERS IN THE HISTORY OF THE EVANGELIZATION OF LATIN AMERICA

FRAY  ANTONIO MONTECINOS (1480-1540)

HE STOOD OUT IN THE FIGHT AGAINST THE ABUSE OF THE INDIANS IN THE AMERICAN CONTINENT. HE GAVE THE FAMOUS "EGO VOX CLAMANTIS IN DESERTO", ALSO KNOWN AS THE ADVENT SERMON AGAINST THE ENCOMIENDA AND THE SLAVERY OF THE NATIVES IN THE INDIES.

2. FRAY BARTOLOMÉ DE LAS CASA.

HE WAS A DEFENDER OF THE RIGHTS OF THE INDIANS AT THE BEGINNING OF THE COLONIZATION OF AMERICA. DESPITE HAVING PROPOSED REFORMS AND FOUGHT FOR THE HUMAN RIGHTS OF THE INDIANS, WHEN CHARLES I GAVE HIM THE OPPORTUNITY TO LEAD HIS OWN COLONIZATION, IT WAS IMPOSSIBLE FOR HIM BECAUSE OF THE RESISTANCE OF THE INDIANS

He began by renouncing the mandate given to him by the governor of Cuba, denouncing this Castilian institution as a form of covert slavery of the Indians (1514).

He proposed to the Crown to reform the Laws of the Indies, as in practice they had proved ineffective in curbing abuses. He also proposed the abolition of the encomienda as a way of rewarding the settlers.

The access to the throne of Carlos I allowed Bartolomé de las Casas to be heard by the court, so that in 1520, the Crown commissioned a plan to colonize the land according to his proposals, but the project failed due to the resistance of the Indians.

LA EVANGELIZACIÓN DE LATINO AMERICA.

¿Qué es evangelización?

Se piensa que la evangelización es simplemente impartir de manera teórica las bases de la religión cristiana o incluso obligar a otras civilizaciones a creer en la religión cristiana y convertirse a ella, sin embargo, evangelizar es enseñar a una comunidad a actuar y vivir de una manera concreta, la manera en la que los cristianos interpretan la realidad. Sin esta distinción entre teoría y práctica, la evangelización no tendría lugar.

En resumen, evangelizar es trasmitir a otros la fe cristiana para que puedan introducirla en su vida diaria, en sus practicas, y sigan los pasos de Jesús.

One doubt that arises in the study of this topic is whether it was possible to evangelize, which is what we have explained above, in the context of the violent practice of conquest and pure domination over the other.

European Christianity, not only Hispanic Christianity, had been accustomed to seeing itself as the private property of the European, they took that religion as the justification for all their actions with respect to the infidels, it led them to totalise themselves in such a way that they identified their culture with the Christian religion. The problem arose of distinguishing whether what was preached was really faith or just a doctrine that justified domination.

The Church in the Cologne:

It was in charge of the evangelization, protection and education of the indigenous people.

There were two areas of action for evangelization, the encomienda and the reductions.

The encomienda: A socio-economic institution through which a group of individuals were obliged to pay another group in work, in kind or otherwise, in order to enjoy a good or a service they had received. In the context of Latin America, it was an institution that made it possible to consolidate the domination of the space that was being conquered by organising the indigenous population as a forced hand to benefit the Spanish crown. It was also a way of rewarding the Spaniards who distinguished themselves for their services and of ensuring that the Spanish population would be able to live in the new lands. The indigenous people had to contribute resources to maintain a mission in this assignment. The missionaries tried to fight against the excesses of the encomenderos.

The reductions: Also called Pueblos de Indios, Indian reductions or doctrine heads, were settlements of Indians with the aim of collecting taxes more efficiently, to instruct the population in Christianity and to give them a job. This entity was autonomous and was protected by the Crown and the Church.

The Church in the Cologne:

It was in charge of the evangelization, protection and education of the indigenous people.

There were two areas of action for evangelization, the encomienda and the reductions.

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