The Origins of Mexican Catholicism: Nahua Rituals and Christian Sacraments in Sixteenth-Century Mexico (review)

In this concise and fascinating study, Osvaldo F. Pardo has made a valuable contribution to our understanding of the beginnings of Catholicism in Mexico, as the title suggests. Yet the author's work does far more than he announces in the title; it introduces us to the subtle interplay between European and Nahua conceptions of what was holy and how that holiness was to be embodied in cultural practices, both personal and communal. More to the point, Pardo carefully examines the mechanics of how Catholic missionaries in sixteenth-century Mexico attempted to implement the sacramental system in a way that would be both culturally meaningful and spiritually effective for Nahua converts. Yet there is an interesting twist. Noting that "no personal account either in Spanish or any of the native languages spoken in Central Mexico has surfaced that would provide us with a glimpse of how a Nahua individual might have experienced the first contact and subsequent conversion to Christianity," Pardo seeks a better understanding of this complex dynamic by juxtaposing Nahua and Catholic rituals. This process "reveals that a hitherto neglected relationship emerges, one that helps account for the transformation of missionary thought and practice, as well as the conditions under which the Nahuas reconfigured their own spiritual and cultural autonomy" (9). Pardo's contribution lies especially in his quest to understand the development of the missionaries' thought processes in what is, according to the author, "the central issue of the book: What did rituals — both Christian and Nahua — tell the friars about human action and social order?" (9). The author further identifies his task: "This book addresses two salient features of the evangelization process: the theological traditions that informed the friars' enterprise and the impact that everyday interaction between missionaries and Nahuas had upon the latter" (12). As Pardo correctly reasons, before the missionaries could determine the proper way to bring Catholicism to the Nahuas, they first had to reflect upon the rich tradition of their own faith — a process that has until recently been taken for granted. Yet it is only when we consider the "impact that indigenous cultures had on missionary thinking" that we can truly appreciate the "dynamic dimension of Catholicism" in sixteenth-century Mexico (16).

The structure of this book could not be clearer. Following the introduction, Pardo studies each of the sacraments of initiation, in their order of presentation to converts, with additional consideration of penance as a preparation for Eucharist: baptism (chapter 1, "Conversion and Baptism in Sixteenth-Century Mexico"), confirmation (chapter 2, "The Uses of a Sacrament: Confirmation and Spiritual Maturity"), penance (chapter 3, "Politics of Salvation: Penance and Contrition among the Nahuas," and chapter 4, "The Mute and the Barbarian: Verbal and Nonverbal Communication in the Confession of the Nahuas"), and Eucharist (chapter 5, "The Eucharist and the Ambivalence of the Gift"). Enlivening eachof these chapters is the chronicle of how the missionaries, particularly theAugustinians, the Franciscans, the Dominicans, and the Jesuits, attempted to adapt Roman-Catholic doctrine and ritual practice to the circumstances of the New World in light of the previous missionary experience of the Church. This book brings interesting data into a new light, and offers valuable insights into the thinking of various important figures such as the Franciscans Motolinía (Fray Toribio de Benavente), Juan de Zumárraga, Alonso de Molina, Jerónimo de Mendieta, and Francisco de Osuna, the Augustinian Pedro de Agurto, theDominican Luis de Granada, and the Jesuit José de Acosta, to name but a few. Pardo's study has a distinctly Franciscan flavor to it — because of the latter's omnipresence in Mexico, especially during the earlier phases of the evangelization process — although the author's mention of "Jesuit friars" did give a chuckle to this son of St. Ignatius Loyola (145)!

The brevity of this...