Information service of the Pontifical Mission Societies since 1927
Urubamba (Agenzia Fides) - 500 years have passed since the Advent of 1511, when the Spanish Dominican missionary friar Antonio Montesino, gave his historic speech in defense of the rights of the Indians, on the island Espaniol of the colony of Santo Domingo. In those days, in fact, 15 friars of the Order of Preachers (Dominicans) were sent by the Master of the Order (friar Thomas de Vio Cajetan between) on the island "to build a convent and preach the word of God."
The note sent by the Dominicans of Urubamba to Fides describes in detail the history of that period. We read that "these good religious men, did not take long to realize what was happening in the colony: slavery and slaughter of the Indians. The Indians to whom they were to preach the Gospel died because of mistreatment, starvation and violence on behalf of the Christian conquistadors. The community of Dominican friars decided to close the convent and the church for seven days. During this period they tried to find the answer to a question: by what right are people are doing these things against these poor Indians? This question was shouted out in a loud voice from the pulpit of their small church when, on the fourth Sunday of Advent in 1511, the doors were opened and the people of the colony were invited to listen to a very important sermon".
This request of justice struck the conscience of Bartholomew de Las Casas, and later at the University of Salamanca, that great cry stimulated the great reflection that produced the new international law. That cry continued to resonate down the centuries and one can recognize its echo in the "Universal Declaration of Human Rights" proclaimed by the UN in 1948.
The community of Dominicans of Urubamba pays tribute to 500 years of Montesino’s sermon recalling a need to continue working for the rights of the Indians: in fact, today the place of the "conquistadores" has been taken by multinational companies, which arrive in this area to exploit the natural resources and trample on the rights of indigenous people who live there. The religious write: "We have had moments of tension, danger and despair, on seeing the limited security, liberty and even life of native communities. We Dominican missionaries of Urubamba join in this tribute-memory of the 500 years which gives a new meaning, human and Christian, in the so-called 'conquest' or 'discovery' of America. We continue to shout out to the corners of the Amazon River, with Montesino’s same courage: aren’t these indigenous people also human beings? Aren’t they also God’s children? ". (CE) (Agenzia Fides 23/12/2011)
