I write these words sitting on an old, uncomfortable, wooden pew in an almost 500-year-old cathedral nestled at the foot of a volcano and adjacent to Lake Atitlán.
When my conquistador ancestors entered the Mayan village named “house of the birds,” they tore down the temple and upon its ruins built a Catholic church, naming the church and town after James the disciple.
Built by the friars in 1547, in what today is called Guatemala, la iglesia católica de Santiago apóstol contains a beauty and simplicity which cannot be denied. And yet, this place where the worship of the “Prince of Peace” is lifted to the heavens, masks a violent evangelism.
This violence is the consequence of christianizing and civilizing the natives – a violence which has continued to this present time.
READ THE REST OF THE ARTICLE HERE: AT GOOD FAITH MEDIA
