Conclusion

We have seen some of the key factors in the growth of Iberian Catholicism in the American colonies. The evangelistic methods used and the strategies for ecclesiastical structures were effective to sustain growth over time. I have argued that promoting mission as intercultural reconciliation among the Iberian diaspora requires a reckoning with its Christian foundations, renouncing supersessionism and building upon indigenization. Supersessionism was crucial during the early modern phase of Iberian missions and contributed to the cultures that form the Iberian diaspora today. This is true even for those who do not profess Catholic faith because the church’s influence on the Iberian cultures is unavoidable. But I contend that Iberian Catholic legacy should not be rejected but built upon. I have emphasized the value of the indigenization that occurred in the early phase of Catholic missions in the Americas. This indigenization emerged from the openness of some missionaries and some indigenous peoples to a new form of Christianity. Perhaps most of the missionaries saw native cultures as contributing nothing of value to Christian faith and practice. It is likely that most of the indigenous communities of the American colonies would describe their experience as being dispossessed, forcibly converted, and reinvented by colonial masters. 

I believe the primary impetus for the darkest elements of Iberian Catholic missions in the Americas was supersessionism. White Europeans appropriated the ancient messianic hope of the Jewish people, a dispossessed people powerless to oppose this offense. While it is true that Jesus fulfilled the promise that Israel would bless all nations, he never intended to start a new religion. Supersessionism presents Christianity as a universal message of salvation through faith in Jesus’ sacrifice for the sins of humanity. Iberian missionaries were correct in communicating the gift of salvation in Christ, but they erred in embodying the vision of the one new man. The message of reconciliation required the role of Israel as God’s chosen people so that no other nation could claim supremacy in the Kingdom of Christ. It was the exclusion of the special identity of Israel in salvation history that laid the grounds for Christian white supremacy. And this toxic vision fueled and justified the terrorizing colonial project. 

I believe that the heirs of Iberian Catholicism and the institutional forms that still exist should not be rejected but built upon. The indigenizing phenomenon is a wonderful part of Iberian Catholicism and should be celebrated. Mission as intercultural reconciliation is a vision that can honor the legacy of Iberian Catholicism. My hope is that the one new man vision can attract a new generation from the Iberian diaspora to the Spirit’s work today. By honoring Israel as the elder brother, the churches of every Gentile culture can find their place as part of the fulfillment of the one new man. This is the mystery Paul referred to: 

In reading this, then, you will be able to understand my insight into the mystery of Christ, which was not made known to people in other generations as it has now been revealed by the Spirit to God’s holy apostles and prophets. This mystery is that through the gospel the Gentiles are heirs together with Israel, members together of one body, and sharers together in the promise in Christ Jesus. (New International Version, 2011, Eph. 3:4-6)