At a particularly solemn moment during a social justice summit in Bolivia, Pope Francis made a historic statement. He apologised for the sins committed by the Catholic Church during the conquest of the continents. This wasn't the first apology by a Pope in Latin America; Pope John Paul did the same in 1992 in the Dominican Republic. But, this was poignant, especially due to his controversial plans to canonise a saint that set up missions in California, a saint that many believe to have committed sins that Pope Francis was apologising for. In 2007, Pope Benedict's statement that the indigenous people of Latin America were 'silently longing' to become Christians did not go down well with Native American activists. This was the atmosphere that greeted Pope Francis on his first papal visit to the Americas, a continent where he himself was born in.
The contrasting statements of Pope Francis and his predecessor indicate the current direction that the Church is taking. It is finally acknowledging that atrocities were committed in its name. Leave aside the fact that this apology comes centuries after the fact. Vatican watchers will admit that atleast the Church is now admitting to have done wrong back then, even if some wounds cannot be completely healed by mere words. Now a pertinent question remains, will the Church apologise for the Inquisition in Goa?
