On his first papal tour of South America, Pope Benedict XVI ingratiated himself to his hosts by… well, speaking his mind. From IntelDaily.com:

“Christianity was not imposed by a foreign culture,” said Ratzinger in Aparecida, Brazil. He was ignoring the colonial relationship of the European powers to the Americas that was based on stealing the wealth of Indigenous peoples and extracting wealth from enslaved African peoples—a relationship supported by the church at that time.

Under colonial rule, Indigenous and African beliefs were banned and people were forced to adhere to the domination of the church. It was not uncommon for priests to bless conquistadors before a massacre of Native peoples.

To add insult to injury, the Pope went on to say that Indigenous peoples wanted to be subjugated by the colonial powers: “Christ was the savior [that Indigenous people] silently yearned for.”

Venezuela’s Chávez responded, “There was a real genocide here and, if we were to deny it, we would be denying our very selves.”

Of course denying a genocide is nothing new to Pope Benedict. If you want a real story, you should ask him about the time he participated in one.

Related: Papal Hopeful Is A Former Hitler Youth