The Church of the Dead: The Epidemic of 1576 and the Birth of Christianity in the Americas

Abstract

Jennifer Scheper Hughes offers a penetrating analysis of archival, theological, and cartological sources as she examines the impact of la gran mortandad (the Great Death) brought about by the 1576 cocoliztli pandemic in Mexico. While the exact disease is uncertain, the signs were visible in bleeding bodies and the victims were unmistakable: 12 million or more Indigenous Mexicans. Ten years in the making, this study underscores the importance of sustained research. The welcomed result is a compelling contribution to the efforts of those who reread colonial Christianity in the Americas with an eye for Indigenous agency. Following the introduction to the context of the pandemic, the author brings to light the devastating impact of cocoliztli with her painstaking study of selected archives. With empathy and rigor, Hughes uncovers the devastating toll of suffering and death as she details various responses to this death event in part 1, “Ave Verum Corpus: Abject Matter and Holy Flesh.” Franciscan friars played a major role—albeit for a limited time—in comforting and treating the sick and dying. As the friars grew weary and the failure of their medicinal care was evident, they, along with other ecclesial communities, began to withdraw to major urban areas or even depart for missionary work abroad. While the Indigenous Mexicans may have needed these religious figures while dying, the friars needed them alive to give meaning to their utopian evangelical endeavor. The “fantasy of care” soon became palpable as the Indigenous population was abandoned. While the people who were left behind were incorporated into the corpus mysticum Christi as articulated by Bartolomé de las Casas and later Henri de Lubac, they appear to be judged as the bloody remains of feet severed from the crucified Christ.