The divided legacy of the council continued during the papacy of Pope John Paul II (1978–2005). An active and charismatic figure whose numerous trips abroad covered a greater distance than all previous popes combined, John Paul moved away from the episcopal collegiality stressed at Vatican II in favour of a more centralized papal authority. He opposed admitting women or openly homosexual men to the priesthood. He was criticized for not halting declines in church attendance and in the number of priests as well as for his conservative teachings on sexuality. He promoted controversial conservative groups, including Opus Dei, and advocated stricter adherence to Catholic theology, as indicated by his opposition to the liberal theologian Hans Küng and to liberation theology (a Latin American movement that sought to aid the poor as a religious duty and criticized existing socioeconomic structures). On the other hand, John Paul noted the error of the condemnation of Galileo and the importance of revising theology to accommodate modern science, except those areas in modern science that were deemed to injure or destroy human life (e.g., stem-cell research). Although he was a staunch opponent of communism whose actions have been deemed instrumental to the collapse of the Soviet bloc, he criticized the excesses of Western capitalism. He also instituted a new Code of Canon Law (1983) and canonized an unprecedented number of saints. But his most important activity—fully in the spirit of Vatican II—was his outreach to other faiths, both Christian and non-Christian. These efforts included overtures to Judaism and Islam: John Paul was the first pope to visit the synagogue in Rome, and in 2000 he made a historic pilgrimage to Jerusalem, where, in the spirit of brotherhood, he prayed at the Western Wall, as well as at Al-Aqṣā Mosque.
John Paul II, 1979.Lochon-Francolon-Simon/Gamma Liaison
John Paul’s successor, Benedict XVI (2005–13), adopted his predecessor’s conservative orthodoxy on matters of sexuality, priestly celibacy, and church organization and continued John Paul’s dialogue with Judaism and Islam. He also faced the challenges of a decline in vocations and church attendance and the lasting effects of the scandal of the late 1990s and early 2000s concerning sexual abuse by priests. Roman Catholicism outside Europe The New World: Spanish and Portuguese empires Colonial period
Europeans first encountered the Western Hemisphere immediately before the Protestant Reformation. The fact of that discovery at that moment in history and the conquest of much of the New World by Roman Catholic powers are of major significance in the religious history of the hemisphere. The only part of the region that would remain non-Catholic was the area of the colonies that later became the United States and Anglophone Canada. Spain and Portugal were in their prime as sea powers in the late 15th and the early 16th century, and they were most responsible for exploring, colonizing, and establishing the Christian faith in the southern two-thirds of the American half of the world.
The chief institutions for spreading Catholicism were the religious orders, including the Franciscans, the Dominicans, the Augustinians, and the Jesuits. Well-trained and self-sacrificing representatives of the orders were able to go wherever Spanish and Portuguese ships went. Indeed, members of the clergy were often included in the expeditions sent to the New World by the rulers of Spain and Portugal, who recognized the obligation to convert the indigenous population as part of their royal duty. The Spanish imposed Catholicism on the conquered Incas of Peru and Aztecs of Mexico and built churches and religious shrines where Inca and Aztec temples once stood. The new faith was almost immediately adopted by the defeated Aztecs, and, to teach the new converts better, many clergy learned their language. Despite royal patronage, there were occasional clashes between Catholic churchmen and colonizers or traders because of the latter’s mistreatment of the indigenous population. At times Catholicism was able to temper the inhumanity of the conquerors. Foremost among the humane spokesmen for the indigenous peoples of the Americas was the Dominican Bartolomé de Las Casas, “the Apostle of the Indians,” whose denunciations of European atrocities against the Native Americans became widely known; he was named bishop of Chiapas (Mexico) in 1543.
Bartolomé de Las Casas, engraving.Courtesy of the Organization of American States
From the 16th to the 19th century, European colonists and immigrants from nations other than Spain and Portugal came to Latin America. However, even when these movements were made up of Protestant minorities or when they included Protestant missionaries, they did little to disrupt the generally or nominally Catholic cultures. After independence
The inevitable reaction against the colonial powers took the form of independence movements and anticlerical revolts. The case of Mexico is illustrative: its rulers repeatedly proscribed Catholic education and promoted anticlerical interests following the country’s break from Spain in 1821. At the same time, the government declared that Mexico was a Catholic country and, thanks to the papal decision to allow the practice, assumed the responsibility (formerly held by the kings of Spain) of nominating bishops to their sees. In 1859 Benito Juárez declared the separation of church and state; a decade later Mexico severed diplomatic relations with the Holy See. In 1917, seven years after the start of the Mexican Revolution, the new government placed further restrictions on the church, and many bishops and clergy were forced into exile in the United States. Increasing persecution in the mid-1920s inspired the Cristero Rebellion (1926–29), in which the peasantry, without the support of the bishops, rose up in defense of the church. Despite the state’s hostility toward the church, the Mexican people remained largely Catholic, though they blended some indigenous religious values and practices with Catholic forms and were often at odds with their own bishops.
Tensions between church and state in Mexico continued for the next two decades and resulted in renewed persecutions in the 1930s. After World War II, however, relations with the state improved, and the church gained greater freedom. Developments following Vatican II and the meeting of Latin American bishops at Medellín, Colombia, in 1968 were even more dramatic. The Catholic church in Mexico took a more activist role in society, denouncing the government for its brutal suppression of student protests, advocating social justice, and defending the rights of Native Americans and the poor. Theologians and some bishops supported liberation theology and Christian base communities (centres for studying the Bible, discussing social problems, and designing solutions to these problems) were established throughout the country. At the same time, however, more-traditional and conservative forces also became prominent. The controversial religious group Opus Dei assumed an increasingly important role in society, especially among the elite, and new episcopal appointments by Pope John Paul II strengthened conservative elements in the church. Along with the challenge of interpreting the decisions of Vatican II, the Roman Catholic Church in Mexico faced the aggressive proselytism of Protestant Christians, including Pentecostals, whose message had great appeal. The canonization of Juan Diego (the Aztec convert whose vision, according to tradition, of Our Lady of Guadalupe led to the construction of a new church and hastened the conversion of the indigenous people of Mexico) on July 31, 2002, and the promotion of a Catholic charismatic movement were seen as an attempt to limit the appeal of the Pentecostals and other Protestants.