The Catholic bulletin. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1911-1995, 1917-04-21
MISREPRESENTATION CAN BE
TRACED TO ONE SOURCE
SHOULD KNOW ABOUT THEIR
SOUTHERN NEIGHBORS.

Students of history, who strive tC
be impartial in their attitude towards
South America, writes Rev. John f
OHara, c. S. c., in the Catholic His
torical Review" ought to know that
practically all the effective criticism
on the Church there, dates from the
unfortunate publication of one book:
"NOticias Secretas de America" writ.
ten by Don Jorge Juan and Don An
tonic de Ulloa. These gentlemen were
naval officers detailed by the Spanish
crown to accompany the scientific eX-
pedition of La Comdamine TO Quito, in
1885. Reports of their Investigations
were published in several scientific
treatises and in an MISUNDERSTANDING
work entitled: Wage a Ia America
Meridional Madrid, 1749). In addi-
tiOn to this they made secret report
to Ferdinanl vi on the conduct of the
civil officials and eCclesiastics of Peru
and more especially of Quito, frankly
noting abuses wherever they were
found to exist. This report, which
was made purely for the information
of the king, was never intended to be
made public, and remained in manu-
script for about eighty years, until it
was published in London, 1926, by an
Anglo-Irishman, David Barry.
The Work of Defamation.
The publication could not have been
more timely for Englands purpose.
For over two hundred years she had
been harassing Spain's colonial pos
sessions, without being able to obtain
more than Il mere fOOthold on the
South American continent. With the
wars of independence, a new oppor-
tunity was opened up to her; and it
suited her purpose to blacken the
character of the South Americans in
the eyes OF Europe. This was under
taken in a long series of published
trayelogues printed between the years
1910 and 1885. The books published
before the "Noticias Secretas' con-
tanned, as 4 rule, o.ll .~as&a.- old stock
charges OF the sale of indulSences,
the cruelty" Of the Inquisition, and
the superstition" of the Church, but
those that followed the "NOticias' gave
lurid accounts of the immortality OF
the clergy, and suppressed anything
that might reflect credit on the
Church. An American edition of the
part of the "Noticias' which told OF
these abuses was brought out in BOs-
ton in 1851, under the title: Secret
Notices of Peru" Other editions bore
the title: "Popery Judged by its
Fruits"
The work of defamation was then
taken up by the Liberal School OF
Latin America, the double purpose OF
which was to justify the expulsion OF
the Religious and the confscation OF
their property, and to destroy the hold
religion had on both Creole and In
dian. Contemporaneous with this
school of vilification We have at pres
ent in the United States two mair
types of Latin-American historical
studies: 1) the Protestant mission
ary type of both history and travel
book, which has descended from the
English school; and (2) the scientific
tvpe. which even when willing to bt
fair. generally starts with the assump
1ion that intellectual life in Soutf
America began with the suppression
of the Inquisition.
A Notable Protest.
Against our traditional acceptance
of these sources Of information, tn
most notable protest is the Fascinating
trilogy of Father Zahm, study o
which appeared in the October mum
her of the Catholic Historical ReVleN
by DR.. O'Hagan. DR.. Zahm describes
at every stage of his journey throu@
the whole continent of South America
the substantial effects as we'll as tn
melancholy ruins of the Churchs az
tivity that have survived the destrut
tive work of liberal governments
His notes, however, are only tn
scholarly observations of culture
traveller, and while this does not d'
tract from their value, for they are
substantiated by accurate referenc
TO q wealth of sources, they 40 M
Dreclude-in fact they earnestly Il
yite-more systematic historical stud
of the glorious record of the age
faith in Latin-America which he lay
before us.
II is high time for us to mai
amends for our unjust indifference
this history We have duty to Sou'
America. We must, in the lnteres
of truth, investigate the causes OF Il
alleged moral laxity among the clert
there. wherever we find that it e
listed and we must find out what
fectiye measures were taken by Il
Catholic authorities, in South Amerl
i'm Spain and in Rome, to stop the
abuses. And we must, on the 9th
hand. be able to place alongside al
unfortunate evidences of human Wea
ness the splendid record OF achiev
ment that makes these lapses pa
into insignificance. We must knc
for instance, that on the one hand I
original allotments of land and
dians to the monasteries had groN
in economic value with the deYeit
ment of the country, and that I
nntd