The Vatican Formally Repudiates “The Doctrine of Discovery”

The Vatican formally repudiated the “Doctrine of Discovery,” the theories backed by 15th-century “papal bulls” that legitimized the colonial-era seizure of Native lands and form the basis of some property law today. Kenneth Deer is with the Haudenosaunee External Relations Committee. He says this good news is tempered:

“We’re not going to give it up, the fight. I think that we’re going to continue to push the Vatican, if they’re going to repudiate “The Doctrine of Discovery,” then they have to to do more with courts and states to support Indigenous Peoples’ struggle for their land and territory. They can’t just put out a statement and do nothing. They have to do more and we still think they should publicly rescind the ‘Papal Bulls’ that make up “The Doctrine of Discovery.”

A Vatican statement said the 15th-century decrees, “did not adequately reflect the equal dignity and rights of Indigenous peoples” and have never been considered expressions of the Catholic faith.  It said the documents had been “manipulated” for political purposes by colonial powers “to justify immoral acts against Indigenous peoples that were carried out, at times, without opposition from ecclesial authorities.”