How The Gospel of Love Was Used by the Roman Catholic Church to Justify Slavery and Colonialism
Never was the gospel to be imposed on an unwilling soul.
In Matthew 28:19–20, Jesus instructs His disciples to “teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost.”
He evangelized by healing the sick, rehabilitating sight to the blind, feeding the hungry, and even restoring life to the dead.
Never was the gospel to be imposed on an unwilling soul. Where language was a barrier, the gift of tongues was provided, where prejudice would intervene, the gift of healing would open the hearts of the critical and mistrusting. These were the ways Jesus taught His disciples.
How then could a church that claims discipleship to Jesus approve and legalize some of the worst acts of barbarity in the name of spreading the gospel?
In the 15th century, the Roman Catholic Church created a doctrine called the Doctrine of Discovery. By it, it dismissed the rightful sovereign existence of any people or nation not subservient to its edicts as medieval Europe was.
The result was the colonization, subjugation and enslavement of indigenous people all over the world. The Doctrine of Discovery is the primary reason many believe the Roman Catholic Church is essentially responsible for colonization and the suffering that came from it.
Origins of the Doctrine of Discovery
In the mid fifteenth century, the Portuguese Empire under the leadership of Prince Henry the Navigator, was expanding its maritime operations along the West African coast with the goal of searching for a route that would lead to the lucrative Asian markets. But along the way the goal quickly changed to spreading Christianity and combating Islam.
On June 18, 1452, Pope Nicholas V issued the papal bull ‘Dum Diversas.’ The document granted King Alfonso V of Portugal the right to wage war on Muslims, pagans and other “enemies of Christ.”
The Portuguese were authorized to conquer lands and subjugate the people to perpetual servitude and enslavement. This bull was the pioneering document that would lead to the Transatlantic Slave Trade and the brutal colonization of the Americas and Africa.
“We grant to you full and free power, through the Apostolic authority by this edict, to invade, search out, capture, vanquish, and subdue all Saracens and pagans whatsoever, and other enemies of Christ wheresoever placed, and the kingdoms, dukedoms, principalities, dominions, possessions, and all movable and immovable goods whatsoever held and possessed by them and to reduce their persons to perpetual slavery.”
On January 6th, 1455, Pope Nicholas V issued the papal bull Romanus Pontifex, presented with “a fatherly care” and a “solicitous mind” aimed at promoting the “salvation and spread of souls everywhere.”
However, despite its seemingly benevolent evangelical intentions, the bull ultimately reinforced the directives of its predecessor, solidifying a far more troubling agenda.
In order that King Alfonso and his successors may securely possess the aforesaid lands and seas, we grant them the right to invade, conquer, and subjugate all Saracens, pagans, and other unbelievers, reducing their persons to perpetual slavery.
Implementation of the bulls
Armed with papal endorsement, conquest and subjugation followed the Portuguese army.
Trading posts such as Elmina in Ghana were established which were later used in the transatlantic slave trade.
The Portuguese facilitated the capture of countless men, women and children in Africa, who were later shipped to the Americas under inhumane conditions, to work under brutal conditions in plantations and mines.
Not to mention the countless others who died resisting Portuguese imposed military force.
On May 4th, 1493, “Inter Caetera” gave Spain the exclusive right to the lands discovered by Christopher Columbus in 1492.
The document established a demarcation line west of the Azores and Cape Verde Islands and assigned Spain the exclusive right to acquire territorial possessions and trade in all lands west of that line. No other European power was allowed to approach without special license from the rulers of Spain.
“Inter Caetera” stated that any land not inhabited by Christians was available to be ‘discovered,’ claimed and exploited by Christian rulers, and the people to be forcibly converted to Christianity.
The methods of conversion often involved coercion such as execution and torture of native leaders as a way of breaking resistance and intimidating others to conversion. This tactic was particularly used on Atahualpa, the Emperor of the Inca Empire and many others in Central and Southern America.
Priests such as those of the Jesuit, Dominican and Franciscan orders justified forced conversion efforts under the guise of divine mandate, believing that this oppressive and humiliating act was “saving souls.”
The papal bulls issued between 1452 and 1494 were used to justify the cruel exploitation of indigenous people by European monarchs with the blessing of the Catholic Church. The bulls led to what is known in international today as the Doctrine of Discovery.
The Doctrine and international law
The Doctrine of Discovery between the 15th and 19th centuries became the fundamental principle that justified European claims to sovereignty over lands occupied by non-Christian people and played a fundamental role in legal and political structures that governed colonization.
The United States Supreme Court case of Johnson v. McIntosh reveals the attitude of colonization that is still prevalent today.
In 1823, two non-Indians sued each other over who was the legal owner of lands formerly owned by Indian Nations in Illinois. The plaintiffs’ claim was grounded on corporations that had allegedly bought the lands in question from Indigenous people in 1773 and 1775.
The defendant in contrast (McIntosh), had purchased the lands from the United States government 1818, which had acquired it through treaties. The U.S. Supreme Court ruled in favor of McIntosh, claiming that Indigenous people were not considered to be full owners of their lands after Europeans arrived and claimed a property interest on those lands.
The case has been used and cited scores of times in the United States, Canada, Australia and New Zealand to decide issues regarding colonization and the rights of indigenous people.
The U.S. Supreme Court in the Johnson case repeatedly claims that the Doctrine of Discovery and the loss of rights by Indian Nations were justified by the ideas of Christianity and civilization.
The international law principle that Indigenous Peoples and Nations around the world did not and do not own the full title to their lands is still the law in most countries.
The Doctrine v. the Bible
Some might argue the Doctrine of Discovery and the aftermath of what came of it is no different from the Muslim conquest of the Middle East and the Iberian Peninsula in the second half of the first millennia A.C.
The Muslim conquest was legitimate, at least based on its religious texts, but Catholic church and its European Vassal kings had no excuse. On examining the Bible, the teachings of Jesus and the Apostles, it’s clear that evangelism is not a conquest. It is not to be forced on an unwilling soul.
For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. John 3:16
There’re clear examples in the gospels demonstrating the faith is to be received willingly, out of one's free will, and not by coercion or manipulation as was the go-to method for Catholic priests.
Moreover, Jesus and the Apostles’ approach shows a clear contrast compared to the Catholic church’s approach. Instead of conquest, subjugation and slavery, Jesus used healing to soften the hearts of the hardened, where language was a barrier, the gift of tongues as deployed.
Jesus is supposed to serve as the example to Christians all over the world. He was humble, meek, self-sacrificing, kind, and loving even to those that hated Him. It was His character that drew people to Him.
A character that sadly continues to dissolve within the Christian body today. A character that the Catholic church and its Vassal Kings never had.
The Catholic church and European monarchs, exploited the Bible to expand their empire, fill their pockets with stolen wealth under the guise of spreading the gospel. Further accusations of barbarity and uncivilization propped their excuses for brutality.
