Here is the truth as to how Christianity came to the New World: it was brought by the Catholic Church.
In 1492, Columbus sailed to find new sea routes for trade to India, China, and the Spice Islands. He had only ninety men on three ships from Spain: the Nina (derived from the Latin and Hebrew roots—Anna, meaning “Full of Grace”), the Pinta (“mark,” or “spot”), and the Santa Maria (“Holy Mary”). Due to the danger, no priests were allowed to travel on this first voyage.
Columbus’s second voyage was in 1493. He had seventeen ships and about 1,200 men. In addition to exploring sea routes, Columbus was a devout, pious man who rigorously practiced the Catholic Faith. Evangelization of the New World was a main priority. On this second voyage, there were five priests among the men: Benedictine Fr. Buil, Hieronymite Fr. Ramon Pane, and three Franciscan friars. The goal of the priests was to evangelize the natives as Christ commanded in the Great Commission.
Columbus died on May 20, 1506, surrounded by fellow Franciscans and his sons. His final words were those of Christ Himself, “Into your hands, O Lord, I commend my spirit” (see Luke 23:46).
This is when the good news arrived in the New World, some 127 years earlier than the date taught to American students today.
The Spanish explorers and missionary evangelists had a difficult time converting the natives to Christianity. The power and brutality of human sacrifice practiced by the Aztecs stood in their way. It would take Cortez and the Conquistadors to finally suppress human sacrifice.
Not until 1521 did a full-scale conversion to Christianity begin. The mendicant orders of Franciscans, Dominicans, and Augustinians were sent to the New World, called New Spain, to convert all indigenous peoples. Initially, in 1524, twelve Franciscans would arrive to help convert New Spain to Christianity. In 1526, the Dominican order would arrive, and finally, in 1533, the Augustinians. Many Roman Catholic Churches were built immediately.
During these times, Our Blessed Mother appeared as Our Lady of Guadalupe to a humble native who is now a saint, Juan Diego. These apparitions occurred in 1531 at Tepeyac Hill, modern-day Mexico City. What makes this Marian apparition distinct from her other Church-approved apparitions is that Mary appeared in her glorified body, and her actual hands rearranged roses in Juan Diego’s tilma. A tilma was the native’s outer cloak garment made of cactus fibers, which deteriorate and fall apart within fifteen to twenty years. St. Juan Diego’s tilma, which is intact, is on display at the Basilica of Our Lady of Guadalupe.
Many miracles and interventions are attributed to Our Lady of Guadalupe. To this day, the basilica is the one of most visited Christian sites on the planet, with some twenty million people annually making a pilgrimage there to witness the tilma and learn the Christian message: evangelize and build churches in Jesus’ Name.
Multiplication of Churches
Though Catholicism came first to the New World, Protestantism flourished in North America thanks to the Puritans. But the sheer number of churches that we see today is the legacy of Martin Luther and the Protestant belief in self-interpretation or private interpretation of the Bible.
Didn’t Our Lord say, “There shall be one flock, one shepherd [emphasis added]”(John 10:16)? Yet various Christian denominations cannot agree on what Christ taught.
Christ condemned denominationalism when He stated, “And if a house is divided against itself, that house will not be able to stand” (Mark 3:25). Remember that the Church is “the household of God”(1 Tim. 3:15). Catholic Christians wouldn’t believe that Christ would ever sanction division in His Church based upon the clear teaching of Scripture.
Today, there are many different Protestant churches because there are now so many interpretations of the Bible. There are so many different interpretations of the Bible because there are so many wrong interpretations of the Bible, and there are so many wrong interpretations because the system of interpreting the Bible is radically wrong. It is self-interpretation! We cannot have one fold, one shepherd, one Faith, and one Baptism of Christianity if every man and woman interprets Sacred Scripture according to their pet theories, emotional needs, or humanist theology.
When you reduce it to practice, the Protestant theory foundationally means this: read the Bible and believe what you like. If you like Martin Luther’s theory, follow it; if you prefer Calvin’s Christianity, embrace it; if you think Thomas Campbell, Joseph Smith, Mrs. Eddy, or Pastor Russell have somehow “discovered” the truth and thus have now succeeded in doing what Christ Himself must have failed to do, then take them as your guide. And if one of these theories fails to suit you, either make one up yourself or wait until next week, as there will be another church on the corner.
In essence, what they are all saying is this: “Christ’s Church for two thousand years was a complete failure, but fortunately for the world, a man has come to finally set it right.”
St. Paul once said that in time people will not tolerate sound doctrine; but through their desires and curiosities, they will acquire an increasing number of teachers. St. Paul also warned us that through human volition, people will stop listening to the truth and be sidetracked into fallacy or myths.
Let us not be sidetracked! Truth has been entrusted to the Church founded by Jesus Christ two thousand years ago. We follow Him by remaining united to Holy Mother Church.
Editor’s Note: This article was adapted from the book One Lord, One Faith, One Church by Paul Zuccarelli and Jesse Romero, available from Sophia Institute Press.
Photo by Denise Jans on Unsplash
