Spanish Cross in Georgia

In the 16th and 17th centuries, the Spanish endeavored to plant the Catholic faith in the hearts of the Native Americans, and the cross in the soil of modern-day Georgia. Arias describes how, amidst the beauty and hardships of the geographic area, the Spanish strategized to erect the cross in Georgia in the 16th century and how this marked the origin of the common venture of Church and Crown to establish a mission system which provided human promotion, religious formation and cultural advancement. Bishop Arias enthusiastically describes how the intrepid Spanish missionaries worked along the Atlantic coast and displayed an extraordinary dynamism, even reaching Virginia in 1570 and establishing a mission near present-day Williamsburg.