The oldest church in Continental America

Just for the record, today I visited the oldest church in the continental americas, Iglesia del Señor san José y el Señor de la Misericordia (Church of the Lord Saint Joseph and the Lord of Mercy).  It turns out, it’s only a stroll down the street from UNINTER (Universidad Internacional), just past the second oldest church.  The church was built by Cortés for himself and his friends, between 1521 and 1523.  Connected to it stands a second church, in honour of an image that is believed to have appeared miraculously over 200 years later.  The image can only be viewed at certain times, though there are a couple of replicas in the church itself.

Apparently, once a year there’s quite a large celebration in Cuernavaca (in August/September) in honour of the image of the Virgen.  The street (which is a major street) is closed off and there’s a party for more than a week.

I asked my teacher why people come to the party.  The answer was, a lot of reasons.  People looking for a miracle.  But many just coming for the party, coming with friends, coming for the food.

Today, the church was almost empty.  I’ve mentioned before that few Mexicans actually attend mass; today I read that few who are baptized Catholics attend.  The Roman Catholic Church in Mexico itself estimates that only 6-9% attend mass.  It’s been said that often expatriates and nuns or priests outnumber Mexican Roman Catholics.  If every baptized Roman Catholic were to attend mass, there would be nowhere near the churches needed to hold them all. (This from the newspaper Reforma, 24-Feb-2007)

Not only do few Mexicans understand the transforming truth of the Bible, few really have a thought-through faith of any kind.  The religious parties in the culture are not demonstrating a faith in the Lord.