By Mike Zonta, OccupySF.net co-editor<\/p>\n\n\n\n
What was the Pope\u2019s 1452 declaration?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
You\u2019re probably referring to the papal bull Dum Diversas<\/em><\/strong>, issued by Pope Nicholas V on June 18, 1452<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n This document has become one of the most controversial papal decrees in history because it authorized the Portuguese crown to wage war against certain non-Christian peoples and to enslave captives.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The key passage granted King Afonso V of Portugal the authority:<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201c\u2026to invade, search out, capture, vanquish, and subdue all Saracens and pagans whatsoever\u2026 and to reduce their persons to perpetual servitude\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n In modern English, \u201cperpetual servitude\u201d means permanent slavery<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The historical context was the expansion of Portugal along the west coast of Africa and conflict with Muslim powers following the fall of Constantinople\u2019s predecessor conflicts. The papacy was encouraging Portugal\u2019s military campaigns against Muslims and supporting exploration and territorial expansion.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Three years later, in 1455<\/strong>, Nicholas V issued another bull, Romanus Pontifex<\/em><\/strong>, which expanded Portugal\u2019s exclusive rights over lands it discovered along the African coast. That document reinforced Portuguese claims to trade, conquest, and enslavement in those regions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Partly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The so-called Doctrine of Discovery<\/strong> is not a single document but a collection of papal bulls and later legal principles. Among the most important are:<\/p>\n\n\n\n Together, these documents were later cited by European colonial powers to justify territorial claims over lands inhabited by non-Christian peoples.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Today, these bulls are widely criticized as providing religious justification for colonialism, conquest, and slavery.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In recent decades, many Christian denominations and Indigenous organizations have called for repudiation of the Doctrine of Discovery. In 2023<\/strong>, the Vatican issued a joint statement rejecting the legal and political use of the \u201cDoctrine of Discovery.\u201d The statement said that these papal documents \u201cdid not adequately reflect the equal dignity and rights of Indigenous peoples\u201d and that the doctrine \u201cis not part of the teaching of the Catholic Church.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n One interesting philosophical observation, given our previous conversations, is that Dum Diversas<\/em> illustrates a distinction you\u2019ve often explored in your Translations: the difference between authority<\/strong> and Truth<\/strong>. Historically, a pope possessed immense institutional authority within the Church. But your first step asks a different question:<\/p>\n\n\n\n Does institutional authority, by itself, establish Truth?<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n That question allows one to distinguish between an institution\u2019s historical actions and the metaphysical question of what is ultimately true. It\u2019s one reason these fifteenth-century documents continue to be discussed\u2014not only as historical artifacts but as examples of how claims of authority can shape history in ways later generations may judge very differently.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" By Mike Zonta, OccupySF.net co-editor Me: What was the Pope\u2019s 1452 declaration? ChatGPT: You\u2019re probably referring to the papal bull Dum Diversas, issued by Pope Nicholas V on June 18, 1452. This document has become one of the most controversial papal decrees in history because it authorized the Portuguese crown to wage… Continue reading \n
Why was it issued?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Was this the \u201cDoctrine of Discovery\u201d?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
\n
How is it viewed today?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
\n