Flagrant And Contemptous Hypocrisy

Pope Benedict's comments in a speech to Latin American and Caribbean bishops at the end of a visit to Brazil about the 'silent longing' of the indigenous peoples to be converted to Christianity is a brazen, racist and arrogant distortion of history.It is a well established historical fact that the native Indians did not welcome the violent colonisation of their land by the Europeans and majority of the indigenous peoples were forcibly converted to Christianity under horrific and brutal circumstances.The pillaging of indigenous peoples' wealth by the Europeans settlers strongly aided by the Church shouldn't be forgotten.The Pope's speech smacks of hypocrisy and is a slap on the souls of those many natives who were massacred by the colonisers and missionaries due to their refusal to convert.Gruesome crimes were perpetrated in Christianity's name.It is 'wishful thinking' on the part of the Pope to say that the natives welcomed the barbaric Christian invaders with open arms and benefited from their rule. The natives were at the receiving end of racism, bigotry, intolerance, and enslavement during Christian rule (Spanish and Portuguese rule) in South and Central America. A genuine, heartfelt apology to the indigenous peoples is required from the Pope. Surely, that can't be too much to ask for from a supposedly 'noble', 'peace loving' and 'forgiving' man like the Pope, is it ?