Historians have discussed and debated the many reasons for the Colombian Catholic church’sdecline. National trends such as the growing secularization of society, emergence of Protestantism, and the decline of the Conservative Party have all been cited as contributing to the weakening of the Catholic Church’s importance. This article examines the evolution of theCatholic Church in the department of Cauca during the twentieth century. It focuses specifically on the changes in the relationship between the Catholic Church and indigenous people.