History of Roman Catholicism in Belize

This history of the Catholic church in Belize has three parts: the historical periods of the Catholic presence in Belize, religious congregations laboring in Belize, and apostolic works undertaken.

Historians distinguish at least three periods in the history of the Catholic church in Belize. The first period saw missionaries accompany Spanish conquistadores among the Mayas in western Belize, from 1524 until 1707 when such activity drew to a close. A century later separate incursions into the central, southern, and northern parts of the territory led to the first permanent residency of the Jesuits in Belize, in 1851. This marks the beginning of the second period which saw the rapid spread of mission churches throughout Belize. The third period began with appointment of the first native bishop, thus handing over to the native, diocesan clergy administration of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Belize City-Belmopan.

1524 to 1707       Friars accompanied the earliest Spanish expeditions into Central America, in accordance with the Patronato system and its intermingling of politics and religion. While the Spanish pursued the false hope of finding gold in Peten, Guatemala, the missionaries accompanied them south from Yucatan, Mexico, and north from Cobán, Guatemala. Scattered physical and documentary evidence of friars among the Maya in Western Belize exists for the period 1524 to 1707. Near the Maya site at Xunantunich in west central Belize lies Tipu with the remains of a primitive church building, mentioned in Spanish records, and a large number of Maya skeletons around its confines. Tipu ceased to exist as a Maya/Christian settlement in 1707 when the Spanish moved its residents to the shores of Lake Petén Itza. Sixty miles to the north of Tipu lies Lamanai (Indian Church) with the remaining stone walls of a missionary church and the ruins of a second church. Maya rebellions were frequent since the system of reducciones—gathering the scattered Maya into Spanish-controlled villages—meant paying taxes and loss of freedom. The South witnessed the only recorded martyrdom of missionaries in Belize: in 1684 at Paliac (Rio Grande, Toledo) three Franciscans and some Spaniards were martyred, presumably a sacrificial offering following the Maya method of ripping out the heart. But it was usually the political rather than the Christianizing effort that provoked Maya resistance. Missionaries who resumed the evangelizing effort over 100 years later would attest to remnants of Christian belief.

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