Catholicism arrives in Puerto Rico

With the arrival of Spanish settlers to the island of Puerto Rico comes Christianity.

This is the work of mulatto José Campeche, who lives on the island of Puerto Rico and frequently portraits colonial life, including religion.

We have just been informed that religion has become an important part of colonial life on the island of Puerto Rico. It is now a colony overflowing with Catholic believers. Spanish priests have been attempting to spread Catholicism to the indigenous peoples and have been quite successful. However, the main obstacle has been the eradication of the deeply-rooted indigenous beliefs that the natives of Puerto Rico already practice.

            The Taino Arawak, the natives of the island, began the beliefs that the natives of Puerto Rico still practice by the time the Spanish settlers brought Catholicism. They believed in a supreme creator, Yocahu, who lived high in the mountains of El Yunque. They believed in a spirit world in which all living things had a soul, and things in nature, such as rivers, trees, and stones, had spirits in them, as well. The Tainos have the equivalent of the devil in their religion: jurakan. He would call forth the horrible aspects of nature that would harm the natives. (It is from this word that the English word “hurricane” is derived.) There were lesser gods, as well. The natives worshipped a god called cemi, and each village or family had a carved wooden image of their cemi on display. Furthermore, the Taino Arawak believed in the afterlife. They buried their dead very carefully by providing food, water, weapons, and jewelry for the graves.  More importantly, with the arrival of slaves from Africa, elements from their religions spread across the island. Spanish priests encountered their practices of animism, which began the use of wearing masks and costumes during religious festivities.

            Even after initial success, Catholic conversion has had difficulty creating substantial ties to the population because of the church’s constant struggle with poverty, and the settlers of the islands tend to live far away from each other and the municipal establishments, making the spread of Catholicism much harder to conduct. Ideally, every town is expected to support its own church; however, very few churches ever collect enough funds to hire a priest or even provide religious services. Frequently, the island’s treasury is so bare that it cannot meet the obligation to require the state to subsidize the church. Unfortunately, only two of the twenty-four religious institutions in Puerto Rico receive aid from the colonial government at the moment.

            Because of the lack of funds, the bishop has major difficulties bringing trained clergymen from Spain; thus, he has allowed a few Creoles to be ordained and to be sent to the several churches located in the interior of the island. But there have been reports that the Creole priests have been seen at local dances, parties, and cockfights, and they follow the customs of their own parishioners. However, some claim that Creole priests are invaluable to the religious community because as messengers of God, they provide help for the community in times of dire need. Moreover, they are often the only literate person in town, and many inhabitants of the island call upon him to run the school and educate the children.

            Lastly, the settlers on the island use baptisms to enhance the powerful religious ties the families maintain. This practice has been gaining momentum as the population expands and the social conditions have improved. Shortly after birth, newborn children are required to be baptized. The parents of the unbaptized child are required to choose a couple willing to serve as surrogate parents for child, and these vows are confirmed in front of a priest, who sanctifies the act in the name of God. The godparents then become known as “compadres” (co-parents).

This story of religion brings to mind a similar instance on the island of St. Thomas. There, religion has also soared upon the arrival of Dutch settlers, and Christianity has become a major influence on the island. Most notably, though, is the positive influence religion has brought to both islands. On both St. Thomas and Puerto Rico, religion becomes an outlet for literacy, something that is very difficult to obtain, especially for the indigenous peoples. Also on both islands the churches are the center of everything, marking their importance within the community. Lastly, Christianity is spreading to the natives of the islands, as well as to the African slaves, which is a marvelous feat. One can see the impact religion has made when observing the success on both of these islands. (For more information on the religious evolution of St. Thomas, see the book Rebecca’s Revival).

Sources:

Wagenheim, Olga Jiménez De. Puerto Rico: An Interpretive History from Pre-Columbian Times to 1900. Princeton, NJ: Markus Wiener, 1998. Print.

Levy, Patricia, and Nazry Bahrawi. Puerto Rico. New York: Marshall Cavendish Benchmark, 2005. Accessed through Google Books.