¿ESTAS NO SON GUACAS TAMBIEN, COMO LAS NUESTRAS? CULT IMAGE AND EVANGELIZATION IN THE SOUTHERN ANDES

Abstract

This article seeks to establish the link between the pre-Hispanic cult of the Huacas and the emergence of the Latin American cult image. Even when the conquerors tried to eradicate the religious sensitivity of the pre-Hispanic peoples, it survived and contributed to the process of inculturation of the gospel in Latin America. In this sense, the image without a soul brought by the conqueror, ends up becoming an image that speaks to the people, claiming the sacramental function of the pre-Renaissance Christian image. Based on the anthropological concept of “agency”, we will propose the Andean huaca as a predecessor of the Latin American cult image, trying to make explicit the theological foundations of the sacramental function assumed by the image in this case.