Link to article: Mexico asks Pope Francis for apology for church’s role in Spanish conquest
Mexico’s president has written a two page letter to the Pope, the Spanish Crown, and the Spanish government asking for an apology for the Church’s and Spain’s role in oppressing indigenous people during the Spanish conquest 500 years ago.
The letter also requested that the Vatican temporarily return ancient manuscripts and maps that were stolen from the ancient Azteca people. Many works similar to the manuscripts were burned in the 16th century as they were the work of the devil. Last year, the president wrote a similar letter to the Spanish King and the Pope, but the government of Spain rejected it outright.
It would not be a surprise if, when/if the Vatican loans out the requested items, Mexico refuses to return them back. The Vatican may be “keeping them safe” but they don’t really have the right to keep relics stolen from the people they hunted into extinction. That would create many issues for Mexico, but it would be a just course of action.
After Spain lost the war against Mexico’s independence, Mexico was not in a very good place economically. It still isn’t, and that’s because of Spain. Even if it’s unlikely the government or crown will ever give them an apology, it would be well deserved.
If Spain did apologize to Mexico, they would have to apologize to numerous other Latin American countries, and other world powers might be incentivized to apologize to groups they persecuted in a similar fashion. The Untied States won’t apologize, however, not with the current administration and mindset of the citizens.