Cardinal urges Mexicans to learn true history of their independence

Guadalajara, Mexico, Apr 28, 2010 / 19:58 pm

As the country celebrates its bicentennial, Cardinal Juan Sandoval Iniguez of Guadalajara, Mexico underscored the need for citizens to discover the truth of their country's independence in order to promote peace and reconciliation.

During a speech at a seminar on the Church and Mexico’s independence, Cardinal Iniguez said, “As we celebrate these memorable dates of our country’s history, we need to gratefully remember to rectify history with the facts and to reconcile - as a people - in the truth that sets us free.”

“The Mexican people know little about their own history, their true history, as many who have written it took it upon themselves to change or distort it according to the ideology and interests of political factions,” the cardinal said.

“And what has been the result?” he asked.  “A manipulated and Manichean history in which the light is all on one side and the darkness all on the other, a categorical division between the good and the bad.  The official ‘heroes’ are portrayed to the people as perfect, untainted and almost superhuman.  On the other hand, the ‘villains,’ that is, the defeated, are incredibly vilified and stripped of any quality or merit,” the cardinal explained.

He went on to call for renewed interest in the true story of Mexico’s independence during the country’s bicentennial celebrations, saying such efforts would benefit the country greatly and lead to deeper reconciliation and peace.

Cardinal Iniguez said great efforts must be made by the country to overcome the serious problems facing it, such as organized crime, violence, corruption, the deterioration of the family, attacks on human life, as well as the growing secularism that tempts Mexicans to “live as if God did not exist, depriving us of the light of the Gospel and of the foundation of Christian morality.”