Notes on Christianity in Moctezuma’s Mexico

John R. Robichaux

Three Matters to Introduce TodayConcerns Regarding the Categories of “Syncretism” and “World Religions”

Liberation and the Encuentro Theology and Otherwise

The Case of Bishop Samuel Ruiz, “The Most Hated Man in Mexico”

Occasional Problems in the Study of “World Religions”Presumed Familiarity with

MessagesSymbols (e.g., Star of David in San Salvador)

Texts (e.g., “Righteous” versus “Just”)Stories Theology (e.g., salvation, martyrology)

Translation Issues (e.g., “Tianzhu“ or “Dao”?)

Need to See Anew, Interrogate the “Familiar”

Syncretism: Helpful or Misleading Category?Helpful:

As a “neutral” term, it is descriptive of all religious (and cultural) communities at some level (esp. central for the study of “World Religions”)

It points to differing origins from various “tributaries” (great for “genealogies” and histories)

It helps us understand differences among various “versions” of supposedly “standard” religions / cultures

Syncretism: Helpful or Misleading Category?Misleading:

The “invention of tradition”Presumes a “standard,” and oftentimes “stable” or “pure,” tradition

Marred by complications of “Power” (e.g., battle between “orthodoxy” and “heresy” internally, and by interpreters’ assumptions, internally or externally)

False emphasis on Origins

Mexican Saying

“We took their language and their religion, and improved on them both.”

Other Ways of Viewing the Encounter?One might following Professor Carrasco’s description of the encounter (following Long and others) from earlier in the course…Indigenous, African and European Co-Creating a NEW World

A + B + C does not equal ABC World

A + B + C = A NEW WORLD

Polycentric Christianity?Mexican Philosopher, Historian and Theologian Enrique Dussel proposes the need to think of Christianity as Polycentric, no longer as Centered in Rome or Canterbury or Azuza Street

Dussel, "The Ethnic, Peasant, and Popular in a Polycentric Christianity"

Note on Roman CatholicismFor highly-centralized World Religions,

such as Roman Catholicism, the matter of diversity of religious practice and belief within their boundaries takes on special significance, as compared to decentralized or loosely-centralized traditions

Diversity of historical responses (cf. “guided,” “spontaneous,” et al in this week’s “Syncretism” reading)

Theology of “Inculturation”

Transculturation

Transculturation“…highly asymetrical relations of

power.”“…a stage for potential adaptation,

subversion, and/or resistance.”“In Santiago Atitlán, the Catholic saints

did not convert the local Maya population to Catholicism. To the contrary, the local population converted the saints to Maya religious expressions.”

(from Carlsen’s “Tranculturation“ entry)

Liberation Theology …in 20 minutes or lessTwo Simultaneous Arisings:

United States: 1970, James Cone, A Black Theology of Liberation

Peru: 1971, Gustavo Gutiérrez, A Theology of Liberation

Latin American Liberation Theology

Some Noteworthy Influences in Latin America:Vatican II

Emphasis on lay leadershipPeople as ChurchReading the “Signs of the Times”

Neo-MarxismPost-ColonialismSocial and Political Context: Great Expanse

of Poverty, Unequal Land and Property Distribution, Political Problems

Medellín (Second General Conference of Latin American Bishops)

Latin American Liberation Theology

Operated at Three Levels:Academic (esp. Theological and Philosophical professionals)

Pastoral (e.g., bishops)Popular / Grassroots (e.g., Base Christian Communities, activists, catechists, community organizers)

Each interacted with the others, though relationships were not always smooth

Literature on LALT is not always clear which level it is examining, complexifying definitions

Latin American Liberation Theology

Some Christian Categories (Re-)Interpreted:“Sin” should include social sin“Salvation” should include liberation

of the poor (later, disenfranchised)“Option for the Poor” (later, “the

Victims”); theologal natureChurch as “People of God” the victims

and their advocatesMartyrologySpiritualityLife of Jesus and Exodus are important

No One Immune from Assassination or Persecution

Bishops(Recall Death Threats against Don Ruiz)

No One Immune from Assassination or Persecution

The People / General Population

…Farmworker

Families as

Calaveras

No One Immune from Assassination or Persecution

Academics

Latin American Liberation Theology

Salvadoran Liberation Philosopher, Theologian, Political Commentator, Political Mediator and former head of the Central American University in San Salvador, Ignacio Ellacuría also re-interprets one of the themes of this course, the Encuentro / Great Encounter:On the Conquest and the Horrors of the

European Invasion and Conquest, what is actually Dis-Covered / Un-Covered (descubrimiento) is Europe / European Culture & Religion, and what is Covered-Up (encubrimiento) is Latin America (& its cultures & religions)(I. Ellacuría“¿Descubrimiento o encubrimiento? Quinto

centenario América Latina”)

Latin American Liberation TheologyFirst, the poor, then women and racial

and cultural minorities constitute the option (cf. Don Ruiz’ work)

Global Progeny of LT Engaged Buddhism (Queen), Africa, Asia, North America, feminist theologies of liberation, queer theologies of liberation, and so on

From Latin American to Latino/a Liberation TheologyAmong the many places Latin American Liberation Theology spreads is to the United States in the minds, hearts, practices and scholarship of Latinos/as

With this geographic shift of LALT, several areas take on new importance (e.g., race, minority, language, relationship between nationalities, paternalism, etc.)

Bishop Samuel Ruiz

Chiapas

Don RuizIn many ways, Ruiz’ life, his conversion by

the indigenous peoples, his prominence at Medellín, his work in re-awakening the Maya imagination and aiding in the conscientization of the indigenous communities, the search for gender equality, the enduring of death threats and public smearing embody a wide selection of the significant elements of LALT

Pages 12, 23, 24ff., 27, 28-29, 31, 37, 46, 47

Don RuizAlso, however, he is an interesting case study

for Latin American Christianity, as he had Maya religious traditions taught alongside Catholic ones in his dioceses (e.g., the Popol Vuh and the Genesis creation stories), his learning the language, his invitation of the Maya of his diocese not only into the political but also the religious life of the community, where they had previously been marginalized

There surely may be questioned raised about his work, but he is offered here as another snapshot into the complexity that is present in the Now of Moctezuma’s Mexico

Questions / Clarifications?