http://sputniknews.com/world/20160209/1034428140/indigenous-seek-apology-from-pope-for-genocide.html
First Nations Come in Last: Canada Discriminated for Years Against Indigenous Children
The Supreme Indigenous Council
of Michoacan, Mexico, accused the Catholic Church of being involved
in mass genocide, which started with the Spaniards’ arrival to the
Central American region in the 16th century.
The statement noted that, by the
beginning of the 17th century, there were less than 700,000 native
inhabitants left alive, from an original population of about 25.2
million, which makes the Spanish intervention and invasion of the
Americas one of the largest acts of genocide in history.
“For over 500 years, the original
people of the Americas have been ransacked, robbed, murdered, exploited,
discriminated and persecuted,” the statement reads. “Within this
framework, the Catholic Church has historically been complicit and
allies of those who invaded our land.”
The communities also emphasized that
colonizers’ abuses included the forcing of European culture, language
and Catholicism on the native peoples of Central America, and using the
Bible as an “ideological weapon.”
“The arrival of the Europeans meant
the interruption and destruction of various original civilizations,
which had their unique ideas and concepts of the world, our own
government, writings, languages, education, religion and philosophy,”
they said.
Various Purepechas communities
from Michoacan demanded that the Pope officially apologize for the
church’s role in the genocide of some 95 percent of the indigenous
population of Central America within about a century following the
beginning of the “European invasion.”
During his visit to Mexico, Pope Francis
will issue a decree authorizing the use of indigenous languages in mass
celebrations. The controversial move is aimed at protecting the rights
of native people in the country.
In 2015, the Pope apologized for “grave
sins” committed against the native people of the Americas during an
encounter in Bolivia with indigenous groups and in the presence
of Bolivia’s first-ever indigenous president, Evo Morales.