MCK Slams the Catholic Church and Pope Francis
Written by Jeremy Zafran on 18 April 2023
After careful review the Mohawk Council of Kahnawake has slammed the Catholic Church and Pope Francis for essentially washing their hands of the colonization of Indigenous people around the world. This after the pope repudiated the Doctrine of Discovery just 2 weeks ago. Ross Montour is an elected official with the MCK:
“The repudiation, it’s like basically saying like, we don’t like that anymore, we don’t have anything to do with that anymore. However, it’s not the same thing as rescinding the ‘Papal Bulls’ of, particularly, 1493. And this is what really is like the foundation of the ‘Doctrine of Discovery,’ which allows European colonization really all over the world, but in terms of Turtle Island, that’s here and it’s still operative within the law.”
The Doctrine, instituted by the Vatican in the 15th century, provided religious and legal authority for colonial conquest, and was used to justify the taking of Indigenous lands, lives and resources in the Americas and Africa. The MCK saying the announcement falls short of true and meaningful reconciliation that colonial governments purport to be making with Indigenous Peoples.
