The Mind Creative March 2014
Churches in South America are considerably better attended than
in Western countries, particularly in countries with large indigenous
populations, such as Peru and Bolivia. In both countries, I found the
churches packed with native Indians, visibly poor and weary,
beseeching Christ for his favours.
It is somewhat of an irony that the Indigenous people of South and
North America, Australia, New Zealand and the Pacific Island
countries, whose social and cultural life was ravished and
populations ravaged by the intrusion of the “White” man, cling to
the religion he brought in his wake, while the churches in the
countries of the “White” man cry out for the attention of the faithful.
Lima’s
Basilica
Cathedral,
whose
construction
was
begun the same year
that the city was
founded,
is
particularly imposing,
as is the Archbishop’s
Palace. On one side
is the Presidential
Palace. Every day,
when
the
clock
strikes
12,
a
Police shift changing at Aguas Calientas
ceremonial change of
guard takes place here with much pomp and ceremony.
Peru has a large indigenous population, just under half of the total,
and a particularly sad history. It is where the Spanish laid the basis
of their large American empire, executing the Inca emperor,
Atahualpa, after converting him to Christianity, taking the Inca gold
and giving his defeated subjects Christianity and Spanish language
in return. In fact, the seizure and execution by garrotting of
Atahualpa by Pizarro has to be one the greatest acts of deception
and trickery in modern history. Atahualpa was no angel