Pope Francis Statement Repudiating the Doctrine of Discovery

[Hallam]

A step in the right direction, and possibly another reason the powers that be don't like Pope Francis.......

Joint Statement of the Dicasteries for Culture and Education and for Promoting Integral Human Development on the “Doctrine of Discovery”

Joint Statement of the Dicasteries for Culture and Education and for Promoting Integral Human Development on the “Doctrine of Discovery”, 30.03.2023


1. In fidelity to the mandate received from Christ, the Catholic Church strives to promote universal fraternity and respect for the dignity of every human being.
2. For this reason, in the course of history the Popes have condemned acts of violence, oppression, social injustice and slavery, including those committed against indigenous peoples. There have also been numerous examples of bishops, priests, women and men religious and lay faithful who gave their lives in defense of the dignity of those peoples.
3. At the same time, respect for the facts of history demands an acknowledgement of the human weakness and failings of Christ’s disciples in every generation. Many Christianshave committed evil acts against indigenous peoples for which recent Popes have asked forgiveness on numerous occasions.
4. In our own day, a renewed dialogue with indigenous peoples, especially with those who profess the Catholic Faith, has helped the Church to understand better their values and cultures. With their help, the Church has acquired a greater awareness of their sufferings, past and present, due to the expropriation of their lands, which they consider a sacred gift from God and their ancestors, as well as the policies of forced assimilation, promoted by the governmental authorities of the time, intended to eliminate their indigenous cultures. As Pope Francis has emphasized, their sufferings constitute a powerful summons to abandon the colonizing mentality and to walk with them side by side, in mutual respect and dialogue, recognizing the rights and cultural values of all individuals and peoples. In this regard, the Church is committed to accompany indigenous peoples and to foster efforts aimed at promoting reconciliation and healing.
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”.
8. Numerous and repeated statements by the Church and the Popes uphold the rights of indigenous peoples. For example, in the 1537 Bull Sublimis Deus, Pope Paul III wrote,“We define and declare [ ... ] that [, .. ] the said Indians and all other people who may later be discovered by Christians, are by no means to be deprived of their liberty or the possession of their property, even though they be outside the Christian faith; and that they may and should, freely and legitimately, enjoy their liberty and possession of their property; nor should they be in any way enslaved; should the contrary happen, it shall be null and have no effect”.
9. More recently, the Church’s solidarity with indigenous peoples has given rise to the Holy See’s strong support for the principles contained in the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. The implementation of those principles would improve the living conditions and help protect the rights of indigenous peoples as well as facilitate their development in a way that respects their identity, language and culture.

[Gerarddm]

Pope Frank is in the hospital for a respiratory infection. Good luck to the fellow.

[skuthorp]

"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."
And the church did very well out of the deals…………

Likely one of the biggest understatement I have ever seen. But conquest and colonisation would have happened anyhow because of money…………
Humans are like that

[Ian McColgin]

Eventually he'll be another St Francis.

[Hallam]

"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."
And the church did very well out of the deals…………

Likely one of the biggest understatement I have ever seen. But conquest and colonisation would have happened anyhow because of money…………
Humans are like that

..........agreed. Way way way overdue and this statement should have been made in the 1960's at least.

That said, I'm of the opinion Pope Francis would go a way further if he thought he could do so and avoid a major showdown and schism especially in the USA, the focal point of resistance to his papacy.
Steady bit by bit progress is the historical way for the church and there is some merit in this. ( It also goes without saying that there has been times of near complete and utter debauchery and corruption of the Papacy ). So in effect change is led from the bottom up even though the opposite seems to be true. The many congregations and wider society outside the church leads the change. One of the many paradoxes.
Change that is a fad and not worth perusing passes by and peters out and change that is solid and well founded becomes that which is taken on board. That positive change is refined and matured in the widespread discourse of social intercourse first and foremost. That an increasing number of Cardinals are from nations that were colonised has tipped the scales of representation in their favour and their world view is not that of the coloniser nations. This dynamic of change and progress is also a byproduct of how the different orders are established, consolidate or whither away into insignificance. With St Francis of Assisi for example the charism of the founder of the order is dynamic, is a response to the time and place and has a relevancy that is needed in the social context. The structure built around the personality to facilitate the original charism is in its foundational stage dynamic, relevant and effective but as time passes the institutional structure usually becomes the dominant factor and rather than facilitating the charism of the founder it replaces it. With exceptional leadership that represents universal truisms a relevancy can be perpetual as I think it is with Francis of Assisi.
It follows that a new St Francis is appropriate for new times and seasons, movements and causes.

[Dan McCosh]

Curious about the church's position on the work of Juan Ginés de Sepúlveda, which seems worse than the Doctrine of Discovery--the theological basis for African slavery in the Americas.