Christianity and Native Religions in the

Americas

Spanish Missionaries• Representatives of the crown• Founded schools (taught Latin, Spanish , and

Christian doctrine)• Learned native language to more easily explain

Christianity to natives• Researched the cultures of the natives to better

understand them• Bernardino de Sahagún

– Franciscan monk– Preserved volumes of info. about languages, customs,

beliefs, literature and history of Mexico before arrival of Spanish

– Recorded the methods of the missionaries in early Mexico

Survival of Native Religions• Spanish tied to eliminate the native religion in

Mexico and Peru and enforce the Roman Catholic faith.

• Native people continued to observe and practice their native religion– They worshipped idols in caves and inaccessible

mountain sites– Still occasionally committed human sacrifice to their

god

• Christianity took favor in most natives– They felt that their gods had abandoned them due to

Spanish conquest and epidemic disease

• Over time they blended their own interests and traditions with the Roman Catholic traditions

The Virgin of Guadalupe

• Legend tells that the Virgin Mary appeared before a peasant near Mexico City in 1531– It is said that those who visit her shrine, at the

site of the apparition, will be bestowed with miracles

• Almost became the national symbol of Mexico after mid-seventeenth century

• Increasingly popular due to growing mestizo population

• Popularity led to the domination of the Roman Catholic Church in Mexico

French and English Missions

• The French or the English did not attract as many converts as the Spanish– It was more difficult to spread the word to people

who were constantly moving

• The English colonies did not discourage converts, but showed little interest in them.

• French worked more with the native people than the English and had some success in spreading the word.

• The native people of North America did not take to Christianity like the people in Mexico and Peru.