The Important Role of the Roman Catholic Church in Forming the Identity of Latin Americans

The Important Role of the Roman Catholic Church in Forming the Identity of Latin Americans
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Latin America is predominantly a Roman Catholic region particularly because the church and state cooperated during the exploration and conquest stage. The Europeans were primarily interested in the territorial and material acquisition of Latin American resources while the church was interested in conquering souls. During the conquest and the independence period, the church and the state relied on the moral support of the church to retain the status quo in Latin America. The church assisted the state to entrench the moral obligations among Latin American colonies in exchange for assistance by the state to maintain Catholic predominance in the colonies. Owing to the extensive entrenchment of the religion, the Church played a significant role in informing Latin American’s identities.
The Catholic Church has always strived to gain mass appeal in Latin America. It works relentlessly to have the largest number of followers. “For instance, every priest undertakes between 150 and 200 baptisms every year since the 1970s. In total, the Catholic Church registers about 7.2 to 8.5 million baptisms every year”. The high number of baptisms indicates that the Catholic Church holds its predominant position as the most popular denomination for Latin Americans (Daudelin & Hewitt, 1995).
Spain’s initial encounter and settlement in Latin America was predominantly motivated by the plans to spread Catholicism to the Americans. The Spanish Crown and the Vatican consented to the church great influence over the Latin American colonies under the prelude of converting colonies to Christianity. Following expansive conversion, the Spanish took up a new mandate of military conquest. “The Spanish establish expansive missions in the region in the initial colonial phase and engaged in mass conversions. Meanwhile, the Spanish crown harnessed control over the territory”. “The Portuguese in Brazil used the same strategy to establish a foothold in through the church influence” (Hagopian, 2009).
Various forms of Catholicism developed during the three hundred years long colonization. Many Amerindians and African slaves practiced their traditional religious practices alongside Catholicism. Although the church was opposed to the mixing of the religions, many clergy condoned the practice. It led to the emergence of new forms of catholic infused religions that are in existence to date. “For instance in the Caribbean, Santeria emerged as a mixture of African religion and Catholicism. Haitians established Vodou in opposition to Catholicism” (Daudelin & Hewitt, 1995).
In the colonial period, the church accrued significant wealth. It maintained a cordial relationship with the crown which boosted its status throughout the colonies. Latin Americans would pay compulsory tithes and donations from devout Catholics. Other Christians would pay to secure esteemed social status and a path to heaven. Catholicism thus influenced Latin Americans social identity (Levine, 2010).
The end of the colonial period marked the end to the Catholic Church’s high position in Latin Ame...