The Roman Catholic Church has acquired greater awareness of the suffering it inflicted on indigenous people in North America by taking away their land, according to a statement by two departments of the church. .“Historical research clearly demonstrates 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,” said the Catholic Church Dicastery for Culture and Education and the Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development in a Thursday statement to Vatican News. .“The Church acknowledges these papal bulls did not adequately reflect the equal dignity and rights of indigenous peoples.” .The departments said the Doctrine of Discovery — a theory which served to justify the expropriation of indigenous land by explorers — “is not a part of the teaching of the Catholic Church.” They said the theories which granted the rights to colonizers were never a part of the church’s Magisterium. .The statement reaffirmed the Catholic Church’s rejection of the colonizing mentality. It said many Christians committed evil acts against indigenous people for which popes have asked forgiveness on numerous occasions. .The concept of discovery has been debated by colonial powers from the 16th century onwards and found particular engagement in court decisions in several countries in the 19th century. This concept motivated settlers to say they had the right to take the land they wanted from indigenous people. .Some scholars said the Doctrine of Discovery found its basis in several papal documents, particularly two bulletins of former pope Nicholas V, Dum Diversas and Romanus Pontifex and former pope Alexander VI’s Inter Caetera. These documents were legal acts which authorized Portuguese and Spanish explorers to seize properties in lands they colonized. .The statement went on to say the content of the documents was manipulated for political purposes by colonial powers to justify immoral actions against indigenous people. It said it's just for the two departments to recognize these errors, acknowledge the effects of assimilation policies, and ask for forgiveness. .“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,” said Pope Francis. .In no uncertain times, the statement said the church’s Magisterium upholds the respect due to every person. It rejected the Doctrine of Discovery for failing to recognize indigenous people’s rights. .The departments concluded by saying the church’s solidarity with indigenous people “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,” they said. .This ordeal comes after the Pope issued an apology to indigenous residential school survivors and their families for the role the Catholic Church played in the institutions in July. .READ MORE: DEEPLY SORRY: Pope Francis issues in-person apology to indigenous residential school survivors.“I am here as the first step to ask forgiveness, and I am deeply sorry,” he said. .“I would like to begin what I consider a penitential pilgrimage, and I have come to your native lands to tell you in person of my sorrow.”
