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WORLD NEWS Tuesday 29 sepTember 2020

500 years ago, another epidemic swept Mexico: smallpox

By MARIA VERZA lies blockaded the city af-
Associated Press ter the June defeat. Histo-
MEXICO CITY (AP) — There rian Miguel León Portilla in
were mass cremations of his book "The Vision of the
bodies; entire families died Conquered" cites chroni-
and the inhabitants of the clers who described it as
city, afraid to pull their bod- "a great plague ... a huge
ies out, simply collapsed destroyer of people." Cuit-
their homes on top of them láhuac, Moctezuma's suc-
to bury them on the spot. cessor, died of the disease
The scene, beyond even in 1520. The Aztecs, or Mexi-
the current coronavirus cas as they were known,
pandemic, was a scourge tried long-trusted remedies
brought 500 years ago by to combat the unknown
Spanish conquistadores disease. Like the coronavi-
and their servants that ex- rus pandemic, that did not
ploded in Mexico City in necessarily work out well.
September 1520. They tried medicinal
Smallpox and other newly steam baths known as te-
introduced diseases went mezcales, a sort of sweat
on to kill tens of millions of lodge, but because people
Indigenous people in the were packed so tightly into
Americas who had no re- the enclosed stone and
sistance to the European In this Friday, Aug. 7, 2015 file photo, a worker stands in front of ongoing excavations at the Templo mud chambers, the baths
illnesses. The viruses later Mayor archeological site, directing people into the adjoining museum in downtown Mexico City, served only to propagate
once the Aztec capital of Tenochtitlan.
spread to South America, Associated Press the disease more efficient-
and helped lead to the ly. "It was a massive group
downfall and overthrow band of a few hundred conquistadores took the brought with them from contagion," said medical
of empires like the Aztecs Spaniards had been kicked emperor Moctezuma cap- Cuba. Some of them historian Sandra Guevara,
and Incas. And its lessons out of the Aztec capital of tive and he died. were already infected Cortés and his men would
remain largely forgotten to- Tenochtitlan, today's Mex- But the Spaniards left be- with smallpox, and amid reenter and conquer the
day. ico City, on June 30, 1520, hind Indigenous and Af- the harsh conditions in the disease-ravaged city a
Hernán Cortés and his by angry residents after the rican slaves they had capital — Cortés and his al- year later in August 1521.q

Church says Cardinal Pell returning to Vatican in crisis

By ROD McGUIRK lo Becciu, over a financial corruption with his prosecu-
Associated Press scandal. Pell was regarded tion in Australia.
CANBERRA, Australia (AP) as the third highest-ranking The interview was conduct-
— Cardinal George Pell, Vatican official and was ed in April by Herald-Sun
Pope Francis' former fi- attempting to wrestle the newspaper columnist An-
nance minister, will soon Holy See's opaque financ- drew Bolt, a vocal cham-
return to the Vatican dur- es into order when he re- pion of the cardinal who
ing an extraordinary eco- turned to his native Austra- reported the news early
nomic scandal for the first lia in 2017 to clear himself of Monday of his return to the
time since he was cleared decades-old allegations of Vatican. The Sydney Arch-
of child abuse allegations child sex abuse. diocese did not respond
in Australia five months Instead, Pell became the to a request for comment
ago, a church agency said most senior Catholic to on Pell's travel plans, and a
Monday. be convicted of child sex woman who answered the
Pell will fly back to Rome abuse crimes. He served phone at the Sydney semi-
on Tuesday, CathNews, an 13 months in prison before nary where Pell lives told
information agency of the Australia's High Court ac- The Associated Press: "We
Australian Catholic Bishops quitted him in April of mo- have no comment."
Conference said, citing lesting two choir boys in In the interview, Pell said he In this Feb. 26, 2019, file photo, Cardinal George Pell arrives at
"sources close to" Pell. the late 1990s when he was did not have evidence of a the County Court in Melbourne, Australia.
Pell's return follows Francis archbishop of Melbourne. link. But he suspected that Associated Press
last week firing one of the In his first television interview a man who swore he had boy had been "used." week in which he "thanked
cardinal's most powerful after his release, Pell linked been sexually abused by Pell again seemed to hint and congratulated" Francis
opponents, Cardinal Ange- his fight against Vatican Pell as a 13-year-old choir- at a link in a statement last for firing Becciu.q