Fray Juan de Zumárraga, first bishop of Mexico from 1528 until his death in 1548, was among the great luminaries of New Spain during the first half of the sixteenth century. Father Fernando Gil documents his ample contributions as Franciscan reformer, protector de indios, organizer of the church in New Spain, evangelist, apostolic inquisitor, and champion of printed religious works. Following a brief survey of the theological landscape, the evangelization of the New World during the past five hundred years, and the use of “pastoral instruments” as sources for a history of theology in Spanish America, Gil examines Zumárraga’s life in some detail, focusing on a historical and theological study of the man and his works.
The first section of the book situates Zumárraga as Franciscan and bishop, later archbishop, of Mexico. The rudimentary outline follows that of Joaquín García Icazbalceta’s incomparable four volumes, Don Fray Juan de Zumárraga, primer obispo y arzobispo de México (1881). Additional details come from the scholarship and documentary collections of Richard E. Greenleaf, Georges Baudot, Robert Ricard, Pedro Borges, Fidel de J. Chauvet, Fidel de Lejarza, Alberto María Carreño, José Almoina, Constantino Bayle, William B. Jones, and Marcel Bataillon. Additional unpublished documents from the Archivo General de Indias (Seville), the Real Academia de la Historia (Madrid), the Biblioteca Nacional de España (Madrid), and the Vatican Library were also consulted. While it makes no significant additions to our knowledge of Zumárraga’s life, this section of the book provides an excellent biographical synopsis, highlighting his ecclesiastical contributions to the church in New Spain and his pastoral role in the establishment of educational institutions and hospitals in the early colonial years. One unfortunate but deliberate omission is any discussion of Zumárraga’s role in the apparition of the Virgin Mary at Tepeyacac (Guadalupe) in 1531.
In the second section of the book, Gil illuminates Zumárraga’s role in using the printing press, introduced early into New Spain, in the service of evangelization. Gil also undertakes a doctrinal analysis of three of Zumárraga’s works: Doctrina breve muy provechosa de las cosas que pertenecen a la fe catholica . . . (1544), Doctrina cristiana mas cierta y verdadera para gente sin erudición y letras . . . and Suplemento o adiciones del cathecismo que quiere decir enseñamiento del christiano (1546), and Regla Christiana breve para ordenar la vida y tiempo del christiano . . . (1547). Complementing these works are Zumárraga’s letters, memoranda, reports, and documents of the ecclesiastical conferences of 1532, 1536, 1537, 1539, 1540, 1541, 1544, and 1546, augmented by the known contents of the bishop’s library (appendix 9). This section of the book will interest more those readers concerned with the early Franciscan efforts in New Spain and the influence of Erasmus of Rotterdam on the order.
Gil’s analyses clearly reveal how Zumárraga’s works were thoroughly grounded in the traditions of the church fathers, Augustine and Thomas Aquinas; in the structure of the catechisms (doctrinas); in the forms and moral tone of Clement; in the influences of Bonaventure; and in the broad reach of Erasmus’ presentation of Jesus and the command to evangelize all peoples of the world. Gil also expounds on the proposition that Zumárraga constructed these works in a binary form —a dogmatic instruction in the faith (Jesus Christ, symbols, and sacraments) and a doctrine of Christian works (commandments, actions, and spiritual understanding) —that was especially suited to the times and the enormous task of evangelization facing the emerging church in New Spain.
The conclusion to the book mars an otherwise fine theological exegesis and historical contribution in a retrospective that attempts to link today’s church with that of Zumárraga in the sixteenth century.
