THIS DAY IN CATHOLIC HISTORY
On October 12, 1492, Christopher Columbus’s expedition, backed by Spain’s Catholic monarchs Ferdinand and Isabella, reached the island of Guanahaní in the Bahamas. Columbus renamed it San Salvador. The island was already home to Taíno people, and the encounter marked the beginning of a lasting European presence in the Americas and of Catholic missionary activity there.
This history calls for honest remembrance. The spread of Christianity became entangled with colonization, forced labor, disease, and profound harm to Indigenous communities. Remembering the day through a Catholic lens means acknowledging both the history of evangelization and the suffering experienced by the peoples who were already there.