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Catholic Places of Interest in Panama

History of Panama:

In 1501, Don Rodrigo de Bastida discovered the Isthmus of Panama and was accompanied by Vasco Núñez de Balbo. In 1502, Christopher Columbus visited the northern coast of the Isthmus and attempted to found a city at the mouth of the Belén River on January 6, 1502, named Santa María de Belén.

Having created the Catholic population with the Spanish settlers and the natives who were converted to the Christian faith, King Ferdinand the Catholic asked the Pope to appoint a Bishop so that the Church could undertake the task of evangelizing the indigenous people in the vast and still unknown territory.

Pope Leo X agreed to the request of the King of Spain and through the Bull “Pastorales Officii Debiturn” created the Diocese of Santa María la Antigua on September 9, 1513, the first on the mainland of America.

The town founded by Balboa and Encino was elevated to the category of city by the Pope, and the chapel in honor of Santa María la Antigua, (formerly the residence of Chief Cémaco) was officially constituted as a Cathedral Church with this dedication as its permanent title.

Panama gained independence from Spain in 1821 and was part of territory known as Gran Colombia, which included present-day Colombia, Panama, Venezuela, and Ecuador; however, Panama effectively separated from Colombia and declared independence on November 3, 1903 with US support (primarily to facilitate the construction of the Panama Canal). For this reason, Panama actually has two “Independence Days”, one on November 3rd, marking their separation from Colombia, and another on November 28th, marking their independence from Spain.

Panama (officially the Republic of Panama) is, of course, famous for the Panama Canal, a wonder of its time.

Construction of the Panama Canal:

Up until the construction of the Panama Canal, ships were required to sail around Cape Horn, the southernmost tip of South America, to travel between the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. This route was long and difficult, taking up to two months to complete. The Panama Canal was begun as a sea-level canal by French diplomat Ferdinand de Lesseps in 1881; however, the project was plagued by tropical diseases like malaria and yellow fever, which killed around 20,000 people in addition to mudslides and floods. The project went bankrupt after nine years.

The canal was re-designed by the U.S from a sea-level canal to a lock canal a completed between the years 1904 and 1914. The Americans used innovative techniques and healthcare advances (Dr. William Gorgas successfully controlled and eradicated yellow fever through a series of measures, including mosquito control, sanitation, and vaccination, to prevent the spread of the disease). Despite these improvements in health, about 5600 lives were lost due to accident and illness during the construction of the canal.

In 1906, President Theodore Roosevelt became the first sitting US president to leave the country when he traveled to Panama to examine the progress of the construction of the canal.

The U.S. built dams and locks, and excavated the Culebra Cut, a mountainous stretch of land. The project was led by chief engineers John Frank Stevens and George Washington Goethals. The canal opened to commercial traffic on August 15, 1914, with the 51-mile waterway cutting the travel time from the Pacific to the Atlantic from weeks to days.

The U.S. invasion of Panama:

The United States invaded Panama in mid-December 1989 during the presidency of George H. W. Bush. The purpose of the invasion was to depose the de facto ruler of Panama, General Manuel Noriega, who was wanted by U.S. authorities for racketeering and drug trafficking. The Panama Canal was, naturally, a key defense area since the U.S. had coasts on both the Pacific and the Atlantic oceans, as well as being vital to commercial shipping. The U.S. assumed ownership of the Panama Canal until, on December 31, 1999 the final transfer of the canal from the U.S. to Panama took place.

At the stroke of noon on December 31, 1999, the Panamanian flag was raised over the Panama Canal, signaling the final transfer of the 51-mile, man-made waterway from the United States to Panama. The ceremony brought an end to nearly a century of strained relations and violent protest over America’s ownership and management of a key economic resource in the heart of Latin America.

The low point in U.S.-Panamanian relations came in 1964 when clashes began in the U.S.-controlled Panama Canal Zone over the flying of a Panama flag alongside a U.S. flag at a local high school. The country erupted in widespread riots, 22 Panamanians were killed by U.S. troops and Panama cut off diplomatic relations with America.

Over the next decade, starting with Lyndon Johnson, several American administrations tried to negotiate a deal for ceding the canal to Panama but could not overcome political oppostition. In 1977 President Jimmy Carter overcame political opposition to sign the treaties agreeing to end the American operation of the Panama Canal in 1999.

Panama today:

The country had a population of a little under four million in 2020, with a large percentage of those living in and around Panama City. In size, the country is 28, 703 square miles, making it slightly smaller than South Carolina. The capitol city of Panama City has the majority of the country’s population, with slightly over 1 million. Panama is of the most stable countries in central America.