Colonialism and Evangelization

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PURE EVANGELIZATION OR AN ACT OF EUROPEAN COLONIALISM The missionary expansion of the Catholic Church in the early modern period has always been a debatable issue for years. Should the expansion of Christianity especially Catholicism be seen as pure evangelization or an act of European colonialism? It is a difficult task to give a clear cut answer to the question posed before us. It is even more difficult to assess the relationship between Catholic evangelization and European colonization that started taking place in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries. The relationship between the two is complex and at times difficult to interpret. The colonizers and missionaries travelled together to the alien land but their motives of exploring the new world were different. The colonizers went to the new lands first with the intension of exploiting land resources which later turned into a desire of land conquest and political dominance. The missionaries who accompanied them enjoying many benefits from this period sought to evangelize. They received many advantages like protection, patronage, travelling facilities and even financial support from the conquerors. The missionaries who sought to evangelize often came with the conquerors and shared same background, language, culture and most importantly the same religion; Christianity. They had many things in common and yet their motives were radically different. Now speaking of the Catholic Church as institution, on the one hand it seriously sought the evangelization of the whole world on the other hand it acted as legitimizing authority for various projects of colonialism. This paradox is quite evident throughout the history of colonization. The Church enjoyed financial profits from its increasing universal presence partly through the process of colonization and thus it supported the colonial regimes in times of
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