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Luigi Guarnieri Calò Carducci is a professor of Latin American history, associated with the University of Teramo and Roma Tre University in Italy.
He has published multiple books and articles on topics related to Latin American history, including the indigenous populations of Peru and the activities of the Jesuit order in the New World.
"The legend of an apostle called Viracocha"
"The legend of an apostle called Viracocha"
The Vatican published on March 31, 2008, in its official newspaper L'Osservatore Romano, an article declaring that the Gospel of Jesus Christ was preached in the Western Hemisphere before the arrival of Columbus.
The Vatican published on March 31, 2008, in its official newspaper L'Osservatore Romano, an article declaring that the Gospel of Jesus Christ was preached in the Western Hemisphere before the arrival of Columbus.
The article examines the Andean deity Viracocha, whose story, as recorded by early Spanish chroniclers, contains elements that some observers have linked to the Christian faith:
Pedro de Cieza de León, Parte primera de la chrónica del Peru (1553)
Cristóbal de Molina, Relación de las fábulas y ritos de los Incas, (1576)
A creator and civilizing figure: In Inca and pre-Inca mythology, Viracocha is a supreme creator god who emerged from Lake Titicaca. He is credited with creating the earth, sky, and humans, and with giving people skills and knowledge.
Physical description and departure: Some chroniclers described Viracocha as a bearded, robed white man who preached peace and love to the people. After traveling and civilizing the people, he is said to have walked across the water and into the Pacific Ocean, promising to one day return.
Parallels to Christianity: The narrative of Viracocha as a divine, messianic figure who teaches and performs miracles has led to theories that his legend was influenced by an early Christian encounter.
Article on pre-Columbian evangelization
The piece discussed evidence from New World chronicles suggesting that indigenous peoples in the Americas may have heard the Gospel of Christ before the arrival of Spanish colonists. It cited accounts describing a preacher named Viracocha in the Lake Titicaca region.
This was seen as a significant reversal of the Vatican's centuries-old rejection of this idea, a position that once led to the imprisonment and exile of Friar Servando Teresa de Mier for preaching a similar theory December 12, 1794, in which De Mier argued that the original painting of Our Lady of Guadalupe was on the cloak of Saint Thomas the Apostle, who had preached in the Americas, which was then re-discovered by Juan Diego. 🤦
The Vatican's perspective
By publishing Calò Carducci's article, the Vatican officially acknowledged the academic debate surrounding the Viracocha legend.
The article served as an "amazing turnaround" from earlier centuries, when the Church had largely rejected or suppressed such suggestions.
While not officially endorsing any specific theory, the publication opened the door for discussion on the possibility of a pre-Columbian Gospel, a topic that was previously dismissed.
(see Theologia Indorum)
25 yrs of research by archaeologist, L. Taylor Hansen, an outstanding diffusionist researcher, Hardcover, March 1, 1963 304 pgs.
An anthology of Native American myths and legends describing a Christ-like figure...
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