Peruvian researcher: Big mistake to think ‘the Catholic faith was imposed on the Incas’
Peruvian researcher Rafael Aíta argues Catholicism was adopted by the Incas through dialogue and shared beliefs, not forcibly imposed. He cites Inca nobles voluntarily requesting baptism and the founding of Cusco’s first parish by an Inca, not a Spaniard. Aíta points to Corpus Christi paintings that blend Inca sun symbolism with Christian imagery, illustrating cultural integration. He stresses the lack of this history in education and its potential to reshape Peru’s national identity.
about 2 months ago
The Peruvian historian Rafael Aíta argues that the common belief that Catholicism was forced onto the Inca people is inaccurate; instead, he sees the conversion as a negotiated, mutually resonant process that began with Inca elites and left a lasting, organic Catholic heritage in Peru. 1
Spanish conquest of the Inca Empire began in 1532, ending indigenous rule that had lasted from roughly 1200 CE. Spanish colonial authority lasted until Peru’s independence in 1821. 1
Aíta contends that the idea of a top‑down imposition of Christianity is a “big mistake,” even among Catholics. He points out that a few Spaniards could not have persuaded “thousands or hundreds of thousands” of people without the active participation of Inca nobles. 1
According to Aíta, members of the Inca panacas (noble families) recognized similarities between their own cosmology and Christian teachings. This led to voluntary baptisms, beginning with the Inca ruler Atahualpa and followed by other nobles who “requested baptism.” 1
Aíta highlights the founding of the first parish in Cusco—San Cristóbal—by an Inca son of Huayna Capac, not by a Spaniard or priest. This illustrates indigenous agency in establishing Catholic institutions. 1
The historian cites Corpus Christi paintings in the Archbishop’s Palace that depict an Inca standard‑bearer presenting the Inca crown before the Eucharist, symbolizing the Inca sun worship being fulfilled in Christ. He also notes a portrait of Marcos Inca, a royal Lloque Yupanqui descendant, labeled “Inca, Catholic knight by the grace of God.” 1
Aíta argues that because Catholicism was embraced rather than imposed, it remains deeply rooted in Peru today. He suggests that if the faith had been forced, it would have faded after the Spaniards left, but instead it persists, perhaps even more strongly than during colonial times. 1
Aíta’s interest was sparked by a visit to Machu Picchu, leading him to study historians such as María Rostworowski, José Antonio del Busto, and Donato Amado, and to uncover a “history that, unfortunately, is not taught.” 1
Inquire how Catholicism integrated into Inca culture through dialogue
Catholicism integrated into Inca culture through a gradual process of linguistic, social, intellectual, and artistic dialogue, although this process unfolded amid the violence and political domination of the Spanish conquest. It is therefore inaccurate either to describe evangelization as simple cultural replacement or to portray the encounter as an entirely peaceful exchange.
The first Christian encounter with the Inca world occurred within the conquest of Peru. At Cajamarca in 1532, the Dominican friar Vicente de Valverde attempted, through an interpreter, to explain the Spaniards’ presence and their religious message to Atahuallpa. The encounter quickly became entangled with military conflict and resulted in Atahuallpa’s capture.
The sources themselves acknowledge that the conduct of Valverde is disputed. Some accounts accuse him of speaking arrogantly and provoking the attack, while other contemporary or near-contemporary witnesses do not support that charge. The Catholic Encyclopedia concludes that the precise details cannot be established with certainty and that some accusations may have been shaped by political or personal bias. This uncertainty is important: the initial meeting cannot simply be presented as an ideal model of Christian dialogue.
Nor can the evangelization of Peru be separated from colonial exploitation. The missionaries’ conduct is described as contrasting with that of conquerors who seized wealth, enslaved Indigenous people, and forced them to work in mines. At the same time, figures such as Valverde, who became the first Bishop of Cuzco and Protector of the Natives, opposed the injustices committed by Spanish soldiers. The Church’s missionary presence was thus internally conflicted: evangelization was connected historically with conquest, yet some missionaries also defended Indigenous people against conquerors.
One of the clearest ways Catholicism entered Inca culture was through the study and use of Indigenous languages, especially Quichua.
Juan de Betanzos learned the Quichua language, married an Inca woman, investigated Indigenous traditions, and composed what the source calls the first known catechism in Quichua. This represents more than a practical translation exercise. It required missionaries and Christian teachers to enter into the conceptual world of the people they wished to evangelize.
Similarly, Garcilasso de la Vega was formed between two cultures. His father was a Spanish conqueror and governor of Cuzco, while his mother was an Inca princess. He learned the language and traditions of the ancient inhabitants from his mother and relatives, while receiving accounts of the conquest from his father’s Spanish circle. His work became an important bridge between Indigenous memory and European historical writing.
This kind of mediation enabled Christianity to be expressed through Indigenous vocabulary, stories, social categories, and historical consciousness. It also made possible a more informed encounter with Inca religion and society. However, translation did not eliminate all difficulties. A word may be translated accurately while still carrying a different religious meaning in its original cultural context. The existence of a Quichua catechism shows an effort at dialogue, but the sources do not allow us to determine how fully Indigenous hearers understood or accepted every Christian doctrine.
Catholic integration did not mean treating every aspect of Inca religion as meaningless. The Church could recognize authentic human and religious aspirations within Inca culture while distinguishing them from beliefs and practices incompatible with the Gospel.
The Quichua people possessed an organized social order based partly on clans and communal cultivation. Land was held and worked collectively, and part of the produce was directed toward supporting workers’ families, the sick, widows, orphans, the government, and religious institutions. Such structures reflected concern for social solidarity and the common good, even though they were embedded within an imperial and highly regulated system.
The source also states that the ancient Peruvians had reached what it calls a monotheistic idea, while describing their obligatory worship of the sun. This created a possible point of contact for Christian preaching: the missionary could begin from the people’s recognition of a supreme divine source and then proclaim the Christian understanding of God as Creator, Redeemer, and Father.
A later reflection by Pope John Paul II gives the theological framework for this approach. Speaking in Cuzco, he acknowledged the ancestors’ worship of the sun as an expression of their search for the source of life, while presenting Christ as the true “sun of justice and love.” The point is not that the sun itself was Christ, but that the natural symbol of light and life could serve as a bridge toward the Christian proclamation of Christ.
Dialogue also occurred through moral teaching. Pope John Paul II referred to the Inca moral maxim:
“Do not steal, do not be idle, do not lie.”
He interpreted these principles as expressing respect for the dignity and property of others, the obligation to contribute to the community, and the integrity between one’s inner convictions and outward words. He connected these values with the natural law—that is, the moral order accessible to human reason and present, in some measure, within every culture.
This illustrates a Catholic method of inculturation: the Gospel does not begin by denying everything in a culture. It identifies genuine moral goods already present, purifies them where necessary, and brings them into a fuller relationship with Christ.
The same principle appears in Pope Pius XII’s description of the Church’s relationship with cultures. The Church does not identify itself with any particular culture; rather, it maintains relationships with all cultures, preserves what is not contrary to human nature, and introduces the truth and grace of Christ into them. In this perspective, Catholicism could become Andean without ceasing to be Catholic, while Andean culture could be transformed without being simply erased.
Once political conditions became more stable, the Church established institutions that became part of the social landscape of Cuzco and the wider Andean world. The Diocese of Cuzco was erected by Pope Paul III in 1536. Churches, monasteries, schools, a seminary, and numerous parishes were subsequently established.
The construction of Christian buildings in Cuzco also involved an encounter with Inca architectural and sacred space. A Dominican monastery was built on the site of the Inca Temple of the Sun, while the cathedral and other churches became central landmarks of the city. This was a visible sign of the replacement of the official Inca cult, but it also created a new religious landscape in which Andean artistic forms, local labor, materials, and symbolism could contribute to Christian worship and public life.
The process was not merely architectural. Missionaries founded communities, taught catechism, administered the sacraments, and organized parish life. According to the source on the Quichua Indians, Dominicans and Jesuits carried out sustained evangelization, and by the end of the seventeenth century most of the Indigenous population west of the Andes had been received into Christianity.
Cultural integration was neither immediate nor complete. Indigenous communities could accept baptism and Christian practices while continuing to preserve elements of older religious identity. The account of Miguel Cabello de Balboa records Indigenous traditions concerning the arrival of white men who preached the Gospel, although the source also warns that these traditions varied from other Spanish accounts. Such material demonstrates that Indigenous peoples did not merely receive Christianity passively; they interpreted the Christian message through their own historical memories.
There was also resistance when Christianity appeared inseparable from Spanish domination. In the eighteenth century, Juan Santos Atahualpa used Inca identity and religious claims to mobilize Indigenous groups against Spanish power. His movement led communities to abandon or attack some Franciscan missions, seriously damaging Christianization in parts of eastern Peru. This episode shows that opposition to missionaries could reflect not only theological rejection but also resistance to colonial control and the loss of Indigenous autonomy.
The dialogue was therefore marked by reception, reinterpretation, resistance, and gradual adaptation. Christianity became rooted in the Andes not simply because Spanish authorities imposed it, but because Indigenous communities, catechists, interpreters, families, and local leaders appropriated and reshaped Christian life within their own cultural world.
From a Catholic perspective, the most adequate model is not cultural destruction but inculturation: the Gospel takes root in a particular people and expresses itself through that people’s language, art, social relationships, and moral insights. Pope John Paul II explicitly told pastoral workers that they should respect Indigenous culture and promote what is good in it:
“With the Christian message you must not destroy their culture, but seek to perfect it.”
He compared this to Christ’s perfection of the ancient Law: continuity exists, but it is accompanied by transformation and fulfillment.
This does not mean that every Inca religious practice could be retained unchanged. Catholic evangelization rejected worship that conflicted with Christian faith, particularly the cult of created things as divine and practices involving ritual sacrifice. The source describes the pre-Christian religion as including priestly structures, ritual, and animal sacrifice. The Catholic approach therefore involved both affirmation and purification: affirming human dignity, communal solidarity, moral responsibility, reverence for creation, and the search for God; purifying religious beliefs and practices that were judged incompatible with the Gospel.
Catholicism integrated into Inca culture through several overlapping forms of dialogue:
The result was not the simple disappearance of Inca culture. Rather, an Andean form of Catholicism emerged in which Christian faith was expressed through Indigenous language, memory, social values, artistic traditions, and reverence for the land—while being reinterpreted in the light of Christ.