Las Casas: A True Catholic Priest

Catholicism: A Very Short Introduction written by Gerald O’Collins is a short read that gives an insight to the Catholic church without getting confusing to the reader. It touches on the basics of Catholicism such as the history, practices, and core beliefs. Through each chapter Gerald O’Collins a research professor in the field of Theology at St. Mary’s University College and Twickenham, as well as formally Dean in Gregorian University for the faculty of Theology, shares his knowledge on the Catholic religion one question at a time.

The film “The Mission” (1986) was written by Robert Bolt and directed by Roland Joffe. It explores the various relationships distinguished between Spanish Jesuits and Indian (Guarani) civilization situated along the borders of Paraguay, Argentina, and Brazil around 1750. Although, as stated in the beginning of the movie that “The Mission” is “based on true historical events”, Bolt and Joffe distort the portrayal of the Guarani and Jesuit relationships. This essay will examine the distortions of the Guarani tribe and the inaccurate “historical” events that took place within the movie.

He got to do a lot of extraordinary things. Las Casas became a bishop of Chiapas in Guatemala and began to set sail in America. When he arrives, he issued the “Admonitions and Regulations for the Confessors of Spaniards,” the famous Confesionario, in January 1545, which he denied exoneration to be given to the individuals who held Indians in encomienda. He later became an influential figure at court and at the Council of the Indies. He also maintained the teachings of Aristotelian principles, that the Indians “are inferior to the Spaniards just as children are to adults, women to men, and, indeed, one might even say, as apes are to men” (Castillo 28). Even though his book was somewhat over exaggerated it was not expected to convey absolute accuracy. All he really wanted was to advocate justice and have an equal amount of universal human rights for the Indians. Since he became a bishop, he knows what is right and what is wrong. He was not biased at all when writing The Very Brief Relation of the Devastation of the Indies but to protect the innocent souls. Las Casas turned into the early voices for the solidarity of mankind and the universality of human rights. During his days it appeared that his voice was solitary, yet his voice still echoes several years after the fact that the poor and indigenous people relentlessly suffer exploitation and the refusal of fundamental human

de la Casas describes the second voyage that he embarked upon with Columbus. He described how each island was depopulated and destroyed. His observations of the land were no so descriptive of the native people and the land, but of the gruesome images the Spanish painted upon the Indies. de la Casas says, “…the Indians realize that these men had not come from Heaven (9).” He goes into detail about how the Christians would take over villages and had no mercy describing one particularly crude act to show how ruthless the Spanish were. He says, “Then they behaved with such temerity and shamelessness that the most powerful ruler of the islands had to see his own wife raped by a Christian officer (9).” The Spanish were so coward and angry anytime an Indian was actually capable of slaying a Spanish man that a rule was made; for every Christian slain, a hundred Indians would die. Natives were captured and forced to work jobs like pearl diving where they would very rarely survive due to man eating sharks or just from drowning and holding their breaths

Casas has a positive attitude towards the natives although it is extremely apparent that those around him do not feel the same. He wants to improve the relations between them and the so – called Spanish Christians, which is why he is writing about these horrors. His approach in improving the relations is to write a brutally honest account of what he witnessed to share with others. He wants the Spanish to realize the brutality they have bestowed upon the natives is unsettling and barbaric for people who call themselves civilized. In this writing, he doesn’t outright tell anyone what to do, but it is implied that he wants the murders and slavery of the natives to end. His story portrays the negative relations between the natives and Europeans from the very beginning of the discovery of the New World.

As stated in the excerpt, Las Casas uses characterization to describe the Natives. He even says, "These would be the most blessed people on earth if only they were given the chance to convert to Christianity" (Casas 11). His use of this literary method virtually guarantees that his readers will become empathetic toward the natives and side with Las Casas in his endeavor to protect the Indians. Essentially, to those uneducated in the goings-on in the New World, Las Casas not only educated them but struck a sympathetic nerve that helped to push Old World Europeans toward minimizing the cruelty in the New World.

Spain sought out to colonize the New World and, most importantly, influence Christianity. This writing is historically significant because it validates the interactions of the aggressive Christians doing and the innocent Indians, which is eventually revealed to the Spanish public. Certain use of pathos in Cabeza de Vaca’s perspective is the most persuasive tool in his journal. His own experience in land where he too was enslaved, like how the Indians were to the Spanish, justifies his own thoughts and empathy for the victims. His accounts as a witness prompt readers to believe his word. Cabeza de Vaca’s insight onto how the foreigners treated the natives and why they were inclines to retaliate, was intended to reveal the truth. This line stated directly to his audience explains his betrayal, lastly exposing the Spanish men: “This clearly shows how the design of men sometimes miscarry. We went on with the idea of insuring the liberty of the Indians…when we believed it to be

separate how De Las Casas might have been an outspoken critic of the Spanish’s treatment of indigenous people, and how he was still a part of a repressive institution. Finally, I

De Las Casas did not like how the natives were treated. Although, he released his slaves. De Las Casas gave up his dream of becoming rich. He felt so strongly about the bad treatment of the natives that he just could not be apart of it. In addition, he became a spokesperson for the natives. De Las Casas risked being shunned by his peers. He did this because witnessing this infernal treatment first hand was too much to have on his conscience. Furthermore, De Las Casas became a priest. He felt that he needed forgiveness for the tragedies that he was involved with. De Las Casas wanted to be able to stop the horrific tragedies that the Christians were doing and his way of doing so was with help from the almighty. De Las Casas wasn’t just a good person he

In addition, I have noticed that in Christopher Columbus passage about his voyage he had portray himself as someone who went out to explore new lands due the request of the king and queen. However, he had only mention what would portray himself as a hero who discovered new land and left out important factor regarding how he treated the Native Americans. On the other hand, Bartolome de Las Casas passage was able to describe the reality to what Christopher Columbus has done to the Native Americans. As the passage mention, Christopher and his men came in like wild creature that had destroyed the Natives Americans in many different types of cruel mistreatment with weapons regardless of age. This is significant as this displayed the reality to what Christopher Columbus was capable of doing. His voyage to the new territory not only cause many innocent Natives Americans life to be cut shorten but taking advantages of the fact that they lack in weapons to protect themselves. The importance of this indicates that Christopher Columbus was only seeking to take possession for the king and queen for it would leave him gaining a

Early on, some opposition against the actions of the Spanish in the New World where the priest, Bartholome de Las Casas, denounced the harsh treatment of natives in the 1530s stated, "From the beginning until now, Spain’s entire invasion of the New World has been wrong and tyrannical. And from 1510 on, no Spaniard there can claim good faith as an excuse for wars, discoveries, or the slave trade.” which portrays the Christian aggression against a race of people who are innocent. Thier only crime was being non-Christian.

G) He was a Dominican friar sent to the West Indies shortly after the Spanish began colonizing the area, and witnessed the ill treatment of the native population at the hands of the Spanish administration. he was one of the first people to argue the concept of universal Human Rights. In 1514 las casas freed his own Indian slaves and began to preach against the injustices of Spanish rule. He insisted that Indians were rational beings, not barbarians, and that Spain had grounds on which to deprive them of their land of liberty.

Being that Antonio Vazquez is a Spanish priest he was more sympathetic towards the Indians. This

Casas became a priest after he saw the injustice that the Indians were enduring. He also proposed to abandon the slave system.

The Nun’s Priest’s Tale is an allegory that uses animals with human characteristics in order to portray the moral of the story. The story centers on a rooster named Chanticleer, who possesses many human qualities, such as speaking, singing, and the ability to dream. Partlet, a hen, is described as “polite, discreet, debonair, and companionable” (153). These are characteristics not typically associated with animals, which strengthens the message that the animals are representative of humans. Furthermore, Chanticleer and the other animals display human emotions, such as Chanticleer’s fear of his dream, Partlet’s disgust of Chanticleer’s fear, and the love that Chanticleer and Partlet feel for one another. Furthermore, the fox, Sir Russell, also