WARNING: This story contains disturbing details
Pope Francis’ apology for the Catholic Church’s role in Canada’s indigenous boarding schools has raised questions about whether he would formally rescind the church’s Doctrine of Discovery.
The doctrine, dating back to the 15th century, included a series of edicts known as papal bulls, which were later used to justify the colonization of native lands.
But any hesitation on the part of the pope to abandon it may stem from the Vatican’s view that the church has already removed and replaced those edicts, some observers suggest.
“In a sense, from the church’s point of view, it shouldn’t be repealed, because it is, in fact, repealed,” said Darren Dias, a professor of theology at St. Michael’s College in Toronto. “It has no reputation.”
On May 4, 1493, Pope Alexander VI issued the papal bull known as “Inter Caetera”, which granted Portugal and Spain the religious support to expand their territories in Africa and the Americas in the name of spreading Christianity. The papal bull said that land not inhabited by Christians could be claimed until “the barbarous nations were overthrown and brought to the faith itself.”
WATCH | Calls for Reversal of the Doctrine:
Protesters are calling on the Pope to revoke the Doctrine of Discovery
Two young First Nations activists brought a powerful flag to the Pope’s mass in Quebec. Their demand to repeal the Doctrine of Discovery, which allowed colonization, reflected a day of surprises and, for some, a growing impatience for concrete action.
While the doctrine justified the colonization, conversion and enslavement of indigenous peoples and the seizure of their lands, scholars say it also laid the foundation for Canada’s land claims and the Indian Act, which laid the foundation for residential schools.
Diaz says other edicts soon replaced the Doctrine of Discovery. For example, by 1537 Pope Paul III had issued his own decree opposing the enslavement of indigenous peoples. He wrote that they “should in no case be deprived of their liberty or possession of their property, even if they are outside the faith of Jesus Christ.”
Yet churches continue to colonize and forcefully evangelize, Diaz said.
“Circumstances have changed”
The Vatican addressed the doctrine in a statement to the Ninth Session of the UN Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues in April 2010.
The Vatican claims that the doctrine was abrogated as early as 1494 and that “circumstances have changed so much that to attribute any legal value to such a document seems completely inappropriate.”
The doctrine of discovery has also been abrogated by other papal bulls, encyclicals, statements and decrees, it said.
Francis attended a silent prayer at the cemetery during his meeting with First Nations, Métis and Inuit communities in Maskwacis, Alta., on Monday. (Guglielmo Mangiapane/Reuters)
“The Bull Inter Caetera is a historical relic of no legal, moral or doctrinal value,” the statement said.
“The Holy See confirms that Inter Caetera has now been revoked and considers it to be of no legal or doctrinal value.”
However, there continue to be calls for official denial not only from the local community but also from some members of the Catholic Church.
An umbrella organization of women’s Catholic religious orders in the US, the Leadership Conference of Women Religious, formally asked Francis to do so in 2014, saying he must reject “the period of Christian history that used religion to justify political and personal violence against indigenous nations and peoples.”
But Massimo Faggioli, a professor of theology and religious studies at Villanova University, told Reuters that while the pope may not formally revoke the doctrine, he should address it.
“The church doesn’t operate that way — it doesn’t issue a document saying, ‘We’ve now decided that this old doctrine is no longer true,'” he said.
“How the church does this is to create new documents with new doctrines that replace the old doctrines… I believe [the Pope] needs to solve this problem and I think it will. But not with an official document.”
Diaz agrees that traditionally popes are not abrogated.
Instead, “a [new] the teaching replaces the old teaching. That certainly happened with the Doctrine of Discovery,” he said.
In an email to CBC News, Jonathan Lessarge, a spokesman for the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops, reiterated that the Vatican has previously made clear that papal bulls related to the Doctrine of Discovery have no legal or moral authority in the Church.
“However, we understand the desire to name these texts, to acknowledge their impact and to let go of the concepts associated with them,” he said.
“The bishops of Canada are working with the Vatican and those who have studied this matter with the goal of issuing a new statement from the Church.”
WATCH | Francis apologizes to the survivors:
The Pope “deeply regrets” the “colonizing mentality” of many Christians
During his visit to Maskwacis, Alta., Pope Francis apologized to residential school survivors for the ways in which members of the Catholic Church have collaborated in the cultural destruction of indigenous life.
Meanwhile, Matteo Bruni, director of the Vatican’s press office, admitted in a briefing just days before the visit to Canada that “there is a reflection going on in the Holy See on the doctrine of discovery,” according to America magazine.
But Steve Newcomb, a local scholar who has spent much of his career studying the Doctrine of Discovery, says he believes the pope’s potential hesitation to revoke the doctrine comes from his reluctance to remind the world of the type of language used by his predecessors.
“[They] issued language of this kind that has had a destructive, devastating impact for centuries on all of our original nations and peoples,” Newcomb said.
“Because what it does is it tears away the veneer from the Vatican to reveal the true nature of the institution,” he said.
Newcomb also suggested that subsequent edicts issued by the church after the papal bulls of 1493 had little impact, and that the original doctrine of discovery served for decades as the basis of “the most appalling acts of genocide against the original nation “.
He said that despite its statement to the United Nations in 2010, the Vatican continued to try to avoid responsibility for the doctrine.
“They have never publicly acknowledged what is in these documents. They just want to refer to the titles of the documents, but not the content.”
Support is available for anyone affected by their dorm experience or the latest reports.
A national Indian school crisis line has been set up to provide support for ex-students and those affected. People can access emotional and crisis services by calling the 24-hour national crisis line: 1-866-925-4419.
Mental health counseling and crisis support are also available 24 hours a day, seven days a week through the Hope for Wellness Hotline at 1-855-242-3310 or via online chat at www.hopeforwellness.ca.
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