The Vatican made headlines this week when two of its dicasteries issued a statement rejecting the "doctrine of discovery" which was used to justify centuries of colonialism.
The Dicastery for Culture and Education and the Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development issued a statement on March 30, emphatically clarifying that "the 'doctrine of discovery' is not part of the teaching of the Catholic Church."
It adds that the Church "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'."
What is the "doctrine of discovery" and how is the Vatican involved?
The idea of a "doctrine of discovery" is confusing for Catholics because when we speak of "doctrine," we usually mean a teaching of the Catholic Church—a part of the body of beliefs revealed in Scripture and Tradition, and clarified by popes or ecumenical councils.
But the notion of the "doctrine of discovery" actually refers to a legal doctrine, that is, a framework of law or custom upon which judges evaluate judicial cases.
Indeed, one of the first to systematically formulate the "doctrine of discovery" was U.S. Supreme Court Chief Justice John Marshall, in the 1823 majority opinion in the case of Johnson v. M'Intosh.
In that opinion, Marshall writes:
"This principle was, that discovery gave title to the government by whose subjects, or by whose authority, it was made, against all other European governments, which title might be consummated by possession. The exclusion of all other Europeans necessarily gave to the nation making the discovery the sole right of acquiring the soil from the natives, and establishing settlements upon it."
In other words, according to Marshall, the legal doctrine of discovery states that if an explorer from a European Christian nation "discovers" a new land, it belongs to the explorer's home country.
And, as history shows, this legal doctrine was used to justify colonization and land seizure in the Americas, as well as sometimes the mistreatment of indigenous populations.
The Vatican dicasteries explain:
"The legal concept of 'discovery' was debated by the 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."
What is the Church's role in all this?
In their March 30 statement, the Vatican dicasteries note that "some scholars" have argued that the basis for the doctrine of discovery "is to be found in several papal documents," citing the bulls *Dum Diversas*, *Romanus Pontifex*, and *Inter caetera*.
*Dum Diversas* and *Romanus Pontifex* were issued by Pope Nicholas V in the mid-1400s.
*Dum Diversas* authorized the King of Portugal to subjugate non-Christians, their lands, and goods, and to reduce them to slavery. The bull specifically mentioned the subjugation of "Saracens," given the contemporary expansion of the Ottoman Empire.
*Romanus Pontifex* states that, under the terms of *Dum Diversas*, the Portuguese king justly and legally acquired the lands of the non-Christians he subjugated. It granted Portugal exclusive rights regarding trade and colonization in Africa.
In 1493, Pope Alexander (Borgia) VI issued *Inter caetera*, giving Spain all lands lying west of a line defined by existing Portuguese possessions in the Atlantic islands.
This decision was made, Alexander wrote, so that the inhabitants of these lands might be brought "to the Catholic faith" and that "the name of the Savior, our Lord Jesus Christ, might be easily introduced into the said countries and islands."
These bulls, it is important to understand, were political and legal documents—they were not designed or intended to convey the teachings of the Church, but were rather acts of governance or administration by the Roman Pontiff acting in the political role he played among the European powers of the time.
This is what the Holy See clarified this week, when the dicasteries wrote that:
"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."
Nevertheless, the dicasteries made clear that the political decisions of the 15th-century popes presented serious problems, both in their text and in their implementation.
"At the same time, the Church acknowledges that these papal bulls did not adequately reflect the equal dignity and rights of indigenous peoples," the statement continues.
"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."
What does the Church teach?
Despite the papal bulls of the 1400s, the Church's teaching on the subject is expressed in *Sublimis Deus*, a 1537 bull by Pope Paul III. This document defines involuntary and non-penal slavery as contrary to natural law.
Paul III writes that "the enemy of the human race […] inspired his satellites who, to please him, have not hesitated to publish abroad that the Indians of the West and the South, and other people of whom We have recent knowledge should be treated as dumb brutes created for our service, pretending that they are incapable of receiving the Catholic faith.
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 faith of Jesus Christ; and that they may and should, freely and legitimately, enjoy their liberty and the possession of their property; nor should they be in any way enslaved."
The Church's teaching also states that it is forbidden to invade territories simply because their inhabitants are not believers, or to try to force them to convert.
Has the Church rejected this "doctrine" before?
Within 20 years of the discovery of the Americas, some voices within the Church spoke out against the cruelty associated with Spanish colonialism.
The best known of these voices is perhaps Bartolomé de las Casas, a Dominican friar and Bishop of Chiapas from 1543 to 1550. He accepted that the papacy could grant non-Christian lands to Christian temporal rulers, but limited its scope to the religious sphere. Aware of the damage caused by colonialism, he renounced his indigenous slaves and opposed, with documentation, the *encomienda* system, which imposed forced labor in Spanish colonies.
Another Dominican friar, Francisco de Vitoria, gave lectures in the late 1530s in Salamanca denouncing the abuses committed in the New World. He rejected the idea that the papacy had the power to give lands discovered in the New World to temporal rulers.
In 2010, the Holy See's Permanent Observer Mission to the United Nations clarified that the bull *Inter caetera* was no longer in effect.
It noted that the bull had been abrogated as a source of international law by the Treaty of Tordesillas in 1494, and abrogated *de facto* as a source of canon law by the terms of Tordesillas and by French colonialism in the New World.
The mission stated that *Inter caetera* was also abrogated by *Sublimis Deus*, whose position "was developed and strengthened in Immensa pastorum of Benedict XIV of December 20, 1741 and in a number of other papal encyclicals, statements and decrees." If any doubt remained, it is abrogated by canon 6 of the 1983 Code of Canon Law, which generally abrogates all previous penal and disciplinary laws.
"As you can see, this process of abrogation took place over the centuries according to the legal maxim: Lex posterior derogat priori, that is, a later law imports the abolition of an earlier law," the mission added.
"Therefore, for international law and for the law of the Catholic Church, the bull Inter Coetera is a historic remnant with no legal, moral, or doctrinal value."
Why is the Vatican addressing this issue now?
Several events in recent years have drawn attention to the Catholic Church's relationship with indigenous communities. One of them is the 2021 discovery of hundreds of unmarked graves on the grounds of former residential schools in British Columbia.
This discovery highlighted the deep wound represented by the Church-run residential school system in Canada's history. More than 150,000 children attended residential schools between 1863 and 1996. For much of that period, attendance was mandatory for tribal children, who were required to sever ties with their language, traditions, and cultural practices.
During a trip to Canada last summer, which he called a "penitential pilgrimage," Pope Francis apologized for the abuses committed in residential schools. He stated that the Church was committed to listening to and accompanying indigenous communities in an effort of reconciliation and healing.
Some indigenous leaders said that while the Pope's apology was an important step, Church officials needed to do more to officially disavow the acts that harmed their communities.
"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," the dicasteries state in their declaration.
"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," they continue.
It is in this context of listening to indigenous peoples that the Church has understood the importance of addressing the concept called the "doctrine of discovery."
It is not certain that the dicasteries' statement will be considered a sufficient apology for the serious problems contained in the bulls of the past. But Cardinal Michael Czerny said this week that the Holy See must continue to "listen," by dialoguing with indigenous leaders, and that there was still work to be done.
"The statement does not seek to restore historical truth, but rather to help the Church, members of the Church—and indeed all citizens of Canada and the United States—to recognize what in this sad history is still at work today.
And that is what motivates, one might say, the passion and compassion underlying this statement: to help us all to face—and when I say 'all,' I mean both indigenous peoples and those who come from elsewhere. Not because it is historical, but because it has effects today," the Cardinal said.
What else do the dicasteries say?
The March 30 statement quotes Pope Francis and reiterates the Church's commitment to accompanying indigenous peoples.
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"The Church's magisterium defends unambiguously the respect due to every human being. 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 these principles would improve living conditions and help protect the rights of indigenous peoples as well as facilitating their development in a way that respects their identity, language and culture."
This article was originally published by ThePillar (Article Link).