MADRID – The president of the Madrid region did not like them, Isabel Diaz Ayuso, the words with which Pope francesco he apologized for the “mistakes committed in the past” by the Church in Mexico, written in a letter to the bishops on the occasion of the bicentenary of the independence of the Latin American country.
“It surprises me that a Catholic who speaks Spanish speaks in this way about our heritage, which was precisely that of bringing Spanish and, with the missions, Catholicism and therefore civilization and freedom to the American continent”, Ayuso told the journalists from the United States, where she went on a political tour.
Mexico wants the Pope’s apology. And Montezuma’s plume
by DANIELE MASTROGIACOMO
According to reports Vatican News, Francis had defined the bicentenary of Mexican independence “a propitious occasion to strengthen the roots and reaffirm the values that build us as a nation”; emphasizing that “strengthening our roots requires a reinterpretation of the past, taking into account both the lights and shadows that have shaped the history of the country”. A rereading that passes through “a process of purification of memory, that is, the recognition of mistakes made in the past, which were very painful”.
“From the same perspective, we cannot even ignore the actions that, in more recent times, have been committed – explains the Pope – against the Christian religious sentiment of a large part of the Mexican people, causing profound suffering”.
In response to questions about Ayuso’s statement, his spokesperson Enrique Ossorio he affirmed that the Pope’s “infallibility” is on “theological and ethical issues”, while in this case “we are talking about history”.
Robert Mickens, editor-in-chief of the Catholic newspaper La Croix International, consulted by Guardian, he replied to Ayuso saying that Francis did not say anything “shocking” because the point dealt with in that letter concerned “the treatment of indigenous people, a topic that has touched the Pope for a long time”.
In recent days Ayuso had already attacked the indigenous “populist” movements present throughout Latin America, guilty of promoting “a simplistic revision of Spanish history”. In particular he accused the president of Mexico, Andrés Manuel López Obrador, and other regional leaders, to conduct policies aimed at “promoting an indigenism that is the new communism”. In March 2019, Obrador wrote to King Felipe VI of Spain and Pope Francis, urging them to apologize for the “abuses” of colonialism.
The far-right Vox party, which supports Ayuso’s Madrid government, is also opposed to this historic revision. In a social media post last month to mark the 500th anniversary of the conquest of Mexico, “Spain has managed to free millions of people from the bloody regime and terror of the Aztecs. Proud of our history.”
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