Pope Refuses to Apologize for Saying Conquerors “Purified” Americas

Pope Benedict XVI is refusing to apologize after claiming the Catholic Church purified indigenous peoples during the colonization of the Americas. On Wednesday, the Pope said he would only acknowledge that injustices were committed.

Pope Benedict XVI: "The memories of a glorious past cannot ignore the shadows that accompanied the process of evangelisation of the Latin American continent. It is not possible, in fact, to forget the suffering and injustices that were inflicted on the indigenous peoples, when often their fundamental human rights were trampled upon."

Pope Benedict has come under intense criticism from Latin American leaders, including Venezuela’s Hugo Chavez, who accused him of ignoring a holocaust.

Source: Democracy Now, May 24, 2007

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See also my earlier Post, They Were Asking For It

TLC