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Catholic Church repudiates legal doctrine used against tribal nations
Monday, April 3, 2023
Indianz.Com
The Vatican released a statement last week saying the Catholic Church has repudiated a religious doctrine that was used to justify the theft of lands from indigenous tribes in North America.
The joint statement from the church’s Dicastery for Culture and the Dicastery for Integral Human Development stated that both the Doctrine of Discovery and the papal decrees, or bulls, that granted sovereign rights to colonizing nations are “not part of the teaching of the Catholic Church.”
“In no uncertain terms, the Church’s magisterium upholds the respect due to every human being,” the March 30 statement reads. “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.’”
The statement explained the discovery doctrine can be found in several papal documents, including the Bulls Dum Diversas (1452), Romanus Pontifex (1455) and Inter Caetera (1493). Nineteenth Century courts in several countries later cited the discovery doctrine as justification for allowing settlers to relieve indigenous peoples of their lands, either by purchase or conquest. The statement went on to claim that the papal bulls, “written in a specific historical period and linked to political questions,” were never considered expressions of Catholic faith. “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 reads. The church also admitted that the papal bulls 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.”Two Vatican Dicasteries issue a joint statement formally repudiating "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’."https://t.co/P9Bj2Aa7rH
— Vatican News (@VaticanNews) March 30, 2023
The National Congress of Americans praised Pope Francis and the Catholic Church for its repudiation of the Doctrine of Discovery. “It is no secret that many governments – including the United States – have relied on this doctrine to justify the mistreatment of Indigenous peoples and the taking of our lands,” NCAI said in a statement. “It is our sincere hope that today’s announcement is more than mere words, but rather is the beginning of a full acknowledgement of the history of oppression and a full accounting of the legacies of colonialism — not just by the Roman Catholic Church, but by all the world governments that have used racism, prejudice and religious authority to not only justify past inequalities, but to allow, fuel, and perpetuate the institutionalization of those inequalities that continue to this very day.” Not everyone expressed support for the Vatican’s statement. Navajo author and former presidential candidate Mark Charles chastised the Vatican Friday for its statement, saying the church is attempting to rewrite history in its repudiation of the Doctrine of Discovery. Charles, author of “Unsettling Truths: The Ongoing, Dehumanizing Legacy of the Doctrine of Discovery,” told Indianz.Com that he was surprised by the Vatican’s statement and was initially glad to learn the church was taking steps to repudiate the discovery doctrine.Today, the Vatican announced the repudiation of its centuries-old Doctrine of Discovery, which was used to justify colonization and land theft across the globe. NCAI responded to the announcement. Read full statement: https://t.co/CxI1Vrsgpx pic.twitter.com/UZmnv3mr1S
— National Congress of American Indians (@NCAI1944) March 30, 2023
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