Mexico asks pope to apologize for colonial era repression

Mexico’s president asked Pope Francis in a letter released Saturday for an apology for the Catholic Church’s role in the oppression of indigenous people in the Spanish conquest 500 years ago.

In a letter to the pope, President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador said the Spanish crown, Spain’s government and the Vatican should apologize to native people for the “most reprehensible atrocities” committed after Spanish conquistadors arrived in Mexico in 1521.

“They deserve not just that generous attitude on our part but also a sincere commitment that never again will disrespectful acts be committed against their beliefs and cultures,” the president said in the letter, published on social media.

The Catholic church played a key role as Spain colonized the Americas and spread its empire, setting up missions to convert indigenous people to Christianity.

Lopez Obrador made a similar request last year in a letter to Spain’s King Felipe and the pope, but the Spanish government rejected the petition outright.

The president renewed the call as part of preparations to commemorate in 2021 the 500th anniversary of the arrival of Europeans in the Americas.

The pope did apologize in 2015 to Bolivia over the church’s role in oppression in Latin America during the Spanish colonial era.