The Impact of Our Lady of Guadalupe

I consider myself privileged to have been born on December 12. Perhaps this explains, in part, my tender esteem for Our Lady of Guadalupe whose feast day is today. 

Our Lady appeared to Saint Juan Diego near Mexico City in 1531 as the natives of Mexico, and most of Central and South America were continuing to struggle under Spanish rule.

Slavery as a Spanish Practice

Juan Diego was a native convert to the Catholic faith. Spain had evangelized much of the Indigenous people through the Franciscan Order in North America, the Dominican Order in Central and Northern South America and the Jesuit Order in the South American region. Brazil, discovered in 1500 by Pedro Cabral, was introduced to the faith by the Portuguese.

In sixteenth-century Spain, slavery was a widely accepted practice. Spanish law of the time considered all captives of war as potential slaves. The influential theologians and philosophers of the School of Salamanca restricted slavery to only non-Catholic captives of war and non-Catholic natives of Spanish colonies. This practice was modeled on Muslim laws regarding captured peoples, which as adapted by Spain, allowed non-Catholics to convert to the faith rather than become slaves.

In theory the immorality of slavery was thought softened by the fact that Spanish law exempted Catholics, thus advancing the prospects of eternal life for people through the Gospel and avoiding slavery by submitting to Baptism. If a slave or native habitant was only a creature, as contrasted with baptized Catholics as children of God, conceptually only creatures were subjected to slavery.

One need only recall that in 1492 Spain ejected Muslims and Jews from the Iberian Peninsula for their refusal the become Catholic, finding their slavery improper, given they were not captives of war.

Despite these caveats, Spanish conquerors in the Americas, seeking wealth through gold and other valuables, enslaved large groups of the newly encountered Indigenous peoples of the Americas. Conquerors worked many of them to death.

These actions were performed an ocean away from Spain and thus the reality of the conquerors’ abuse either escaped oversight, or the riches brought to the Spanish Crown were too substantial to be scrutinized. It’s not hard to imagine that the Spanish Crown simply turned a blind eye to the conqueror’s actions.

Bishop Bartolomé de las Casas

Notably, just short of a decade ago we celebrated the 500th Anniversary of Bartolomé de las Casas, a Dominican Bishop who travelled in 1515 to Spain to petition the Spanish Crown to stop the abuses of the natives who were subjugated to slavery.

Bartolomé de las Casas first arrived in Haiti in 1502 and soon became a slave owner, even joining military expeditions against natives. In 1510 de las Casas became a priest, and seeing his wealth as the product of unclean hands gave up his extensive land holdings and slaves. His conscience accused him of the racial injustice he witnessed as a clergyman.

His conversion of conscience was incremental, first agreeing with the School of Salamanca dictates that only non-Catholic Africans and non-Catholic captives of war should be potential slaves. Indigenous peoples being neither African nor captives of war, de las Casas concluded they should not be enslaved.

The Bishop Travels to Spain

In 1515, now a Bishop, Bartolomé de las Casas travelled to Spain to make the Spanish Crown aware of the abuses he had seen. Eventually Bishop de las Casas even advocated that Indigenous groups be allowed self-governance under the Spanish Crown. His argument drew upon theologians and moral philosophers such as Thomas Aquinas and Aristotle.

De las Casas’ ideas percolated throughout the Spanish legal system, and eventually, Indigenous people were allowed to adjudicate their own inter-indigenous conflicts.

As against the Spanish government, however, Indigenous people would need a ‘protector advocate’ to represent their local grievances. Bishop de las Casas was eventually appointed the first ‘protector advocate’ of the Indigenous population of Central America. As a result of the Bishop’s efforts, Indigenous traditional customs not deemed “heretical” as against the Catholic faith became protected.

Until his death in 1566, the Bishop worked tirelessly to eradicate the enslavement of native people.

The Virgin Mary’s Timely Appearance

So it was that amid this enslavement turmoil, Our Lady of Guadalupe appeared to Juan Diego.

She spoke to him in his native language, such that he was able to understand her message directly and, therefore, communicate it readily to others. Our Lady identified herself as the ‘Mother of the True God’, emphasizing love and the acceptance of all people regardless of race or background. This offered hope to the indigenous community that God was engaged and aware of their plight.

As the mother of the True God, she implicitly rebuked the Aztec god and human sacrifice. Over nine million Aztecs converted to Christianity by the power of the image Our Lady left in Juan Diego’s Tilma and even human sacrifice was ultimately abolished.

Thus, to the extent native converts treated each other with human dignity, it accelerated the elimination of a subhuman mindset among the Spanish. (cf. St Paul’s Letter to Philemon).

Barriers began to be broken down between the Indigenous and Spanish as her message emphasized the necessity for each to treat the other with kindness.

The Virgin’s Impact

Our Lady of Guadalupe was, without a doubt, the greatest catalyst of conversion for native Americans. Her appearance gave importance to the Indigenous people and thus affected Spanish thinking regarding those they had enslaved. After all, Our Lady did not appear to Imperial Spain suggesting cessation of slavery, but instead, by appearing to Juan Diego, a simple Indigenous man, she raised indigenous dignity to an equality on par with Catholic Spaniards.

This equality paradigm shift would take time to infiltrate Spanish society, but God declared through the Virgin Mary appearing as an Indigenous woman, that the dignity of all races and people was part of His plan. 

[Readings: ZEC 2:14-17; LK 1:26-38]

Jerry DeMelo Jr.

Mr Jerry DeMelo, Jr OP is a life-long Catholic and life professed Lay Dominican. A graduate of the Naval Academy, he served in the US Submarine Service. He is presently a Judicial Officer in California. Jerry enjoys Catholic Pilgrimages, teaches a weekly Bible study as well as the Diaconate formation program for the Diocese of Fresno. Mr DeMelo is on the Board of Directors of Gratia Vobis Ministries.

5 Comments

  1. Amelia Martinez on December 12, 2024 at 5:07 pm

    Thank you Jerry. Well written! May our Lady of Guadalupe always show her graces in you. Happy Birthday.

  2. JohnBosco Chinonso on December 12, 2024 at 12:01 pm

    Birthday blessings upon you, Jerry. May our Lady of Guadalupe obtain for you divine graces. Amen.

  3. KAY on December 12, 2024 at 8:06 am

    Happy birthday Jerry on this beautiful feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe!

  4. Joanne Huestis-Dalrymple on December 12, 2024 at 6:08 am

    Happy Birthday, Jerry!!!!!!

    • Jerry DEMELO Jr on December 12, 2024 at 1:17 pm

      Thank you Joanne. I always wanted to be 70, I just didn’t want it to be so soon! But I’m doing well in great health and it’s been a great journey that God has blessed along the way. I have no complaints about entering this new decade.

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