Bring Back the Celebration of Christopher Columbus Day

Nowadays, many school teachers, most journalists, and the entire woke-culture focus solely on the negative-connected history of Christopher Columbus and not his positive achievements. Our politically-correct society has “canceled” Columbus’s legacy.

Instead of cancelling Columbus, American culture should restore his reputation and resurrect his historical accomplishments. It is for his magnificent courage, the boldness of his conception, and his deep faith that Columbus should be rightly honored in the 21^st century as he was in all six centuries prior.

A devoted Catholic explorer, Christopher Columbus was the discoverer of the future “America.”  By that discovery, he was ultimately responsible for America’s evangelization. For this, Catholics and all Americans should forever honor him on the day he arrived in the Americas (North, South, and Central America) – October 12.

In the “baby boomer” and earlier generations, children celebrated “Columbus Day” with a day off of school. Banks and post offices closed on October 12, as well, and states held parades. America celebrated the hero who “in 1492…sailed the ocean blue” (the line every kid used to memorize in school). 

Corrupting the Columbus Name

Fast forward to today and mostly one only hears that Columbus Day should be a day of repentance. It should be a day for whites to acknowledge a history of oppression and genocide against so-called BIPOCS. The Columbus-haters also point out that he actually didn’t make a real discovery at all, because there were people already in the Americas when he found them. They tell us that the anniversary of Columbus’s sailing should be an occasion to condemn him, not to praise him.

This vitriol started its climb in 1992, when Berkeley, California became the first city in America to mark so-called Indigenous Peoples’ Day as a replacement for Columbus Day. These days, hundreds more cities nationwide along with 15 states officially recognize Indigenous Peoples’ Day on the second week of each October.  

The indigenous peoples are the pre-Columbian inhabitants of North America, South America, and Central America. They are commonly referred to as Native Americans, Alaska Natives, and/or Indians. Of course, it is appropriate to recognize native inhabitants, be it in history classes or in proclamations. The concern with these state governments and city councils swapping-out holidays is not that they want to honor indigenous peoples. It is that they are purposely doing this as a way to slam the heroism of Columbus.

Yes, Columbus was flawed, but aren’t all heroes flawed? For example, we know George Washington owned slaves, but that does not undermine his title as the “Father of our Country” and arguably our country’s greatest president. A hero of five hundred years ago compared to the lifestyle and actions of modern culture will undoubtedly reveal some things that today’s world would frown upon. 

A Hero Not a Villain

The imperfect Columbus was nevertheless a hero. He achieved in a manner unequalled in the history of exploration and changed history forever. Instead of criticizing Columbus’s failings, we Catholics should dust off the playbook of festivities from prior eras. We should return to promoting the inspiration he gave and the evangelizing he did for the Church.

It is important to remember that 1492 was the Middle Ages, with the Reformation not occurring for another 15 years. Thus, the sociological dimension to exploration and colonization was not comprehensible to that mindset. Columbus saw the “Indians,” as he named them, as potential converts to Catholicism and potential allies to Catholic Spain. As a faithful evangelist, he attempted to convert them. He may have had ambition for fame and wealth, but he also worked tirelessly on the conversion of the pagan peoples that he would encounter. He saw this as his Christian duty. 

An argument against Columbus is he and other Europeans brought diseases to the New World. But they did so unintentionally. Nobody in the 15^th century understood the causes of diseases, nor did they know the native population would have no resistance.

Another argument is that  actions of early explorers such as Columbus were excessively cruel, such as their use of slaves. But many practices of the native populations were likewise cruel. The natives who lived in the yet-to-be-named America during and prior to the 15^th century were violent to the point of murdering fellow natives, tortured and rape competing tribes, and massacred other tribes’ women and children. 

It is also important to realize that while the first natives that Columbus encountered were hospitable and friendly, he and other explorers who followed him witnessed shocking practices of some other tribes. These natives were brutal, practicing human sacrifice and cannibalism. Columbus lost some of his own crew to cannibalism from some indigenous tribes.

Moreover, there is no evidence that Columbus thought that the indigenous people were congenitally or racially inferior to Europeans. In his ship’s log, Columbus wrote about the peaceful natives and called them “the handsomest men and the most beautiful women” he had ever encountered. He praised their generosity and their high natural intelligence.

It is difficult to choose a right and wrong, to identify a black and white, when cultures collided five hundred years ago. Today’s cancel-culture, however, is very certain that they know it was entirely the evil Columbus’s fault during the Middle Ages. They are certain that all the indigenous people at that time were pure innocents.

The woke crowd is either ignorant about or purposely concealing the positive realities lost in the 21^st century retelling of history. One positive outcome due to Columbus’s discovery and connection with natives is an interracial culture developed in much of Latin America. Moreover, the introduction of European culture helped bring about the ending of the natives’ human sacrifice and cannibalism, with many indigenous pagans converting to Christianity.

Re-Introduce Columbus to the Youth

All North Americans, South Americans, and Central Americans – but especially Catholic Americans – should proudly recognize Columbus’s accomplishments. They need to put the negative actions of Columbus into perspective and consider the century in which he lived. This is particularly true when it comes to re-educating our propagandized youth.

In recent generations, most U.S. schools taught their students solely about the positive qualities of North American natives. It is just as essential that we teach them about the admirable qualities of early explorers. Columbus particularly was daring, ambitious, and a devout Christian.

The secular culture encourages youngsters to doubt the goodness of Columbus’ character because he supposedly treated the natives poorly and sailed solely for gold and glory. But here is what Columbus himself said about his reason for sailing:

“It was the Lord who put it into my mind to sail to the Indies. The fact that the gospel must be preached to so many lands—that is what convinced me.” 

Dedicated to Christ

There is one, long forgotten story that most likely only homeschooled kids are hearing. It is regarding what happened when Columbus and the crew on his three ships had been out of sight of land for a full month. This was a longer voyage not seeing land than any other in the history of the world up to that time. Columbus’s men became both scared and angry, and the crew came to the verge of mutiny, when Columbus tells us in his log how he answered them:

“They [the crew] could stand it no longer. They grumbled and complained of the long voyage, and I reproached them for their lack of spirit, telling them that, for better or worse, they had to complete the enterprise on which the Catholic Sovereigns [Isabel and Fernando] had sent them. I cheered them on as best I could, telling them of all the honors and rewards they were about to receive. I also told the men that it was useless to complain, for I had started out to find the Indies and would continue until I had accomplished that mission, with the help of Our Lord.”

Columbus’s dedication to Christ was also evident in how he named his famous ships. “The Santa Clara” referred to Saint Clare (but later nicknamed “The Nina”), and “La Santa María de la Inmaculada Concepción” referred to Holy Mary of the Immaculate Conception (later shortened to The Santa Maria). Also indicating his Godly-focus, he gave his first few landing places Christian names:  

• “San Salvador” – which means “Holy Savior”
• “La Navidad” – which means “The Nativity”
• “Santa Lucia” – which means “Saint Lucy”
• “Trinidad” which means “The Trinity”

The culture this last half-century has blown out of proportion Christopher Columbus’s defects and has forgotten his admirable qualities. Catholic parents and Christian school teachers would do well to share with their youngsters the opposing, pro-Christopher view to counter what much of the media, progressive educators, and woke culture are propagandizing – especially every year when the second Monday in October comes around.

Worth Celebrating

At a minimum, Columbus Day is worth celebrating if only for two simple reasons. It celebrates character qualities that were foundational to America and it recognizes the first preacher/evangelist in our part of the world.  

Columbus was the America’s first missionary on October 12, 1492, when he made the first landfall on an island he named “San Salvador/Holy Savior.” (We know it now as the Bahamas.) Columbus knelt on the beach to give thanks to God. He then prayed in Latin this prayer, most likely the first Christian prayer recited in the Americas:

“O Lord, eternal and omnipotent God, Thou hast, by Thy holy word, created the heavens, the earth, and the sea; blessed and glorified be Thy name; praised be Thy majesty, who hast deigned that, by means of Thy unworthy servant, Thy sacred name should be acknowledged and made known in this new quarter of the world.”

Columbus was a hero of the Catholic Church and of the United States for eons for a number of reasons. For five hundred years, we considered him a bold navigator and a man of original ideas who was persistent and determined in carrying out his plans. We also revered him for being so successful in overcoming the obstacles of his voyages. Those facts haven’t changed. We either forgot them or tainted them. We need to recapture them.

Above all, Columbus has always been a model of a courageous Catholic missionary who admirably drew his life’s vision from Jesus Christ. It is proper for us to celebrate him loudly every October 12 (or second Monday in October, which for 2025 is the 13^th).