Free Republic

SANTA FE, N.M. (CNS) -- Little did the Spanish conquistadors and Franciscans who came to what is now New Mexico in 1625 realize that the same wooden statue of Mary they brought with them to help instill the Catholic faith would still be a symbol of love and devotion today. Originally called the Assumption of the Virgin Mary, the statue is little more than 3 feet high, made of wood and hollow in the middle -- so it might fit atop a staff when displayed on horseback -- but it continues to inspire the faithful as La Conquistadora. Her...

MEXICO CITY (AP) - Archeologists have discovered the remains of two dozen children in Mexico apparently sacrificed by priests who slashed their throats and offered their blood to the rain god Tlaloc, researchers said Tuesday. The discovery at a former Toltec settlement indicates child sacrifice predated the Aztecs, an advanced civilization conquered by the Spain in the 16th century and was fairly commonplace. Dating to about AD 950 to 1150, the bones of the children were found on the outskirts of the Toltec archeological zone Tula, said Luis Gamboa, an archeologist for the National Institute of Anthropology and History. The...

MEXICO CITY - Mexicans have long been taught to blame diseases brought by the Spaniards for wiping out most of their Indian ancestors. But recent research suggests things may not be that simple. While the initial big die-offs are still blamed on the Conquistadors who started arriving in 1519, even more virulent epidemics in 1545 and 1576 may have been caused by a native blood-hemorrhaging fever spread by rats, Mexican researchers say. The idea has sparked heated debate in Mexican academic circles. One camp holds that the epidemics could have been spread by rats migrating during a drought cycle; others...

JULIA and Richard do not look like fugitives but they could be jailed under new Indian laws to stop missionaries converting low-caste Hindus to Christianity without a magistrate’s approval. A well educated British couple with young children, they left London two years ago to teach missionary work in some of India’s poorest states, such as Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Orissa. Last week Madhya Pradesh became the latest state to pass an anti-religious conversion bill that could leave Christian missionaries open to criminal charges. Leaders of India’s 26m Christians say the bill is an attempt to intimidate and persecute them, while...

...In seven states in India, the BJP [Bharatiya Janata Party] and its allies have introduced over the past few years a number of laws that punish “proselytism.” Ivan Dias, the archbishop of Bombay...asserted that “conversion from one religious belief to another is a strictly personal matter between God and the individual concerned.” Conversions “induced by force, fraud or allurement,” the cardinal continued, are not part of the Church’s mission. Those who attack the Church must provide proof for their accusations, but they have not been able to do so... “Christians in India number only 2.3% of the total population: of...

Adam Garcia wants everyone to know he never burned the American flag, which is one of the rumors he’s heard about himself. Watch Tribune reporter Nicole Birk's report Related Links Immigration tensions spark flag-burning Today's Top Stories News The 16-year-old is the Apache Junction High School sophomore who brought a Mexican flag to campus Thursday. He said he got the idea from friends to hoist it on one of three flagpoles there. It was before school, and before an American flag had been raised. “I wouldn’t have taken it down if it had been there, because I’m proud of that...

1492 was perhaps the most momentous year in all of Spainish history. Under the leadership of Ferdinand of Aragon and Isabella of Castile, Spain was united for the first time in 800 years and the last of the Moors had just been sucessfully defeated at Granada. In this same year under the urging of Torquemada, master of the Inquisition, an edict had been issued expelling the Jews from Spain. In addition, after six long years of waiting around the periphery of the royal court, Christopher Columbus had finally been given permission to set sail westward to search for the riches...

LAKE GUATAVITA, Colombia (Reuters) - Covered in gold dust, the Indian king leapt from the ceremonial raft into the sacred lake as masked shamans sprinkled the waters with gold and emerald offerings to their gods. The ancient ritual of the Golden Man -- "El Dorado" in Spanish -- disappeared long before the arrival of the Spanish in South America, but the legend lured droves of conquistadors and looters to this small lake in the Colombian Andes. A gold-covered man, they reasoned, must be from a city of gold. Although the golden city was never found, the search for El Dorado...