I was born November 1949 in Cartagena, Colombia (pronounced “Carta-hen-a”). Cartagena was founded 416 years before, in 1533, by Dominican and Franciscan monks. A few years later, Jesuit and Augustinian monks catechized the indigenous dwellers. My ancestors were among those whose first catechism had the shape of a rod in hands of armed deputies dispatched from the nearest office of the Roman Papacy.