5. It is in this context of listening to indigenous peoples that the Church has heard the importance of addressing the concept referred to as the “doctrine of discovery.” The legal concept of “discovery” was debated by colonial powers from the sixteenth century onward and found particular expression in the nineteenth century jurisprudence of courts in several countries, according to which the discovery of lands by settlers granted an exclusive right to extinguish, either by purchase or conquest, the title to or possession of those lands by indigenous peoples. Certain scholars have argued that the basis of the aforementioned “doctrine” is to be found in several papal documents, such as the Bulls Dum Diversas (1452), Romanus Pontifex (1455) and Inter Caetera (1493).
6. The “doctrine of discovery” is not part of the teaching of the Catholic Church. Historical research clearly demonstrates that the papal documents in question, written in a specific historical period and linked to political questions, have never been considered expressions of the Catholic faith. At the same time, the Church acknowledges that these papal bulls did not adequately reflectthe equal dignity and rights of indigenous peoples. The Church is also aware that the contents of these documents were manipulated for political purposes by competing colonial powers in order to justify immoral acts against indigenous peoples that were carried out, at times, without opposition from ecclesiastical authorities. It is only just to recognize these errors, acknowledge the terrible effects of the assimilation policies and the pain experienced by indigenous peoples, and ask for pardon. Furthermore, Pope Francis has urged: “Never again can the Christian community allow itself to be infected by the idea that one culture is superior to others, or that it is legitimate to employ ways of coercing others.”
7. In no uncertain terms, the Church’s magisterium upholds the respect due to every human being. The Catholic Church therefore repudiates those concepts that fail to recognize the inherent human rights of indigenous peoples, including what has become known as the legal and political “doctrine of discovery”.
press.vatican.va/content/salastampa/en/bollettino/pubblico/
Comment: This is an excerpt of the recent “Joint Statement of the Dicasteries for Culture and Education and for Promoting Integral Human Development on the “Doctrine of Discovery.” This doctrine was used as a religious and legal justification by European powers for seizing new lands from the indigenous inhabitants for centuries. More recently, it was invoked by the US Supreme Court in 1823 and in 2005 by none other than Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg.
I’m not surprised by this move. It’s consistent with “Laudato Si” and it was almost foretold by the Amazonia Synod and Pope Francis’ recent pilgrimage to Canada to apologize to the indigenous people of Canada for the Church’s part in the abuse of residential schools. This move is gratifying to me as an anthropologist, a Special Forces officer and a Jesuit influenced, yet fallen, Roman Catholic who still shares vestiges of those ancient pagan beliefs of my Lithuanian forefathers.
TTG
https://thejesuitpost.org/2022/10/catholic-101-the-doctrine-of-discovery/
I would like to know where they stand on the ethnic cleasing of Palestinian Christians and Muslims during the Nakba and the continuing Judiasation of Jerusalem and the West Bank.
Gordon Reed,
The Vatican recognized the state of Palestine in 2015. This is from a2017 article in the America Magazine (Jesuit run).
“The local Church in Israel-Palestine has the responsibility of reminding the Universal Church that Israel-Palestine is an open, festering wound and that the situation cannot be considered normal,” the Commission for Justice and Peace of the Catholic bishops of the Holy Land states in a document issued in Jerusalem on May 14.”
“By her very nature, the Church opposes occupation and discrimination and is committed to promote justice and peace as well as the unique dignity and equality of every human person. The Church can never ignore injustice “as if” all is well but rather is obligated to speak out, resist evil and work tirelessly for change. Like the prophets of old, the Church, a prophetic body, points out injustice and denounces it.”
England, being Protestant, didn’t have the rationale for their colonial efforts. I don’t think a whole lot of others did either.
Fred,
England and the US after that accepted the doctrine of discovery as international law and incorporated the idea into their respective national laws. They didn’t adhere to the doctrine because the Pope made them do it.
TTG,
Spain and Portugal, being global naval powers at the time, had a lot more to do with the English acceptance of the political boundaries established by Papal mediation and a variety of papal bulls preceding the division of the south America.
Fred,
England didn’t give a damn about the Pope divvying up the new world between Spain and Portugal. When one of those two complained about the piracy of Francis Drake, Queen Elizabeth I said as much in a reply.
TTG,
” incorporated the idea into their respective national laws” You should have clarified what that statement means.
Kudos to the Catholic Church. I also recall that they were against the 2003 invasion of Iraq because it did not meet the criteria for a ‘just war’. The Catholic Church grew out of their aggressive phase and is now a good citizen in state affairs. Sadly, my evangelical brethren are tripping over themselves to display aggression, ‘American Exceptionalism’ is their new god.