The Doctrine of Discovery: A Product of Catholicism’s Most Embarrassing Era

Colonization of the Western Hemisphere was a product of the Early Renaissance period in Europe, a time of absolute monarchs and deep political corruption that included the Vatican.

Aug 08, 2022

As Pope Francis visited Canada two weeks ago, many of us learned the specifics of the “Doctrine of Discovery,” more specifically, the papal bull Inter Caetera, issued in May 1493 by Pope Alexander VI. The document specifically invoked Christoper Columbus’ first visit to the Western Hemisphere of the previous year and stated that the doctrine of terra nullius applied to lands discovered by Europeans for the first time (meaning that the land was legally deemed vacant, with no ownership rights for those already inhabiting it, essentially finders keepers). The practical effect was to give Church sanction to Spanish occupation of the Americas, save the easternmost tip of South America, whose legacy is Portuguese-speaking Brazil. Furthermore, "the Catholic faith and the Christian religion be exalted and be everywhere increased and spread, that the health of souls be cared for and that barbarous nations be overthrown and brought to the faith itself."

In one sense, it is not surprising to learn the details of Inter Caetera. Evangelization was a central aim of European exploration and colonization, and the missionary aspects of the Roman Catholic Church played an important role in the settlement of the Spanish, Portuguese, and French empires in the Americas. (Religious concerns, albeit Protestant, were at the core of the settlement and founding of the United States.) The statement of terra nullius, however, remains a political issue through to the present. In the 16th and 17th centuries, the imprimatur of the Church was crucial for political actors, and several European countries pointed to the papal bull to justify pushing aside, if not decimating, native peoples through violence and disease. In 1823, in the U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling in the case of Johnson & Graham's Lessee v. McIntosh, Chief Justice John Marshall wrote that “discovery gave a title to lands still remaining in the possession of the Indians.”

Alongside the Pope’s apologies for the role that individual Catholics (but not the Church as an institution) played in what he eventually called the “genocide” of the Canadian First Nations peoples, especially in the residential schools, numerous First Nations members called for an explicit renunciation of Inter Caetera, and many commentators said that the Pope’s other apologies were worthless without an explicit repeal of the Doctrine of Discovery. Indigenous movements in the Americas, especially those in Canada, have emphasized land ownership and land claims, and have pointed to the system of treaties among many aboriginal peoples and the British Crown as reflecting the inherent ownership of land by indigenous peoples. The explicit overturning of Inter Caetera would imply that European settlement of the Americas was never moral, and perhaps illegal, though aboriginals pointed out that their goal in the present day is equal partnership with Canadian governments–overturning the basis for European settlement would only be symbolic more than five centuries after Columbus.

Contemporary Catholic teaching condemns colonialism and exploitation of peoples, yet the idea of repealing Inter Caetera appears to be a non-started. The explanation is likely found within the way the Catholic Church creates and expresses doctrine. The idea of “repealing” old teaching draws on a legal concept, in which enacting new laws often entails the explicit repeal of older laws. The Church generally does not issue doctrine in this manner, instead changing its teaching with time. In other words, the new takes precedence over the old. Many Catholic scholars point out that in 1537, Pope Paul III issued the document Sublimus Dei, which stated “Indians and all other people who may later be discovered by Christians, are by no means to be deprived of their liberty or the possession of their property,” though it defended evangelization by stating that “Indians and other peoples should be converted to the faith of Jesus Christ by preaching the word of God and by the example of good and holy living.” The Church was under stress as Protestant churches broke away, and the Church entered into the period of the Counter-Reformation, which featured the Inquisition that Spain exported to its colonies, making it one of the formative experiences of Latin America. Growth in American colonies was a source of growth to counter the loss of members as well in prestige to Protestant Europe.

The Catholic Church of the 21st century is one that has lost its political power. The Papal States are a historical artifact, with the remnant Vatican City as their legacy, just enough to enable the Pope to travel as a head of state. Its social power has declined, as the Pope’s presence in a strongly secular Quebec was a sharp reminder. Governments no longer turn to it for endorsements of their policies, and are largely free to ignore it. The Church of the late 15th century was very different, and explicitly repealing the Doctrine of Discovery would call further attention to one of the lowest points in Church history. The Church was only one century removed from the split papacy in which seven Popes resided in Avignon, France, and by 1500, was deeply into one of its greatest periods of corruption. This corruption led to developments such as Martin Luther’s Ninety-Five Theses, focused primarily on financial corruption and its effects on Church doctrine, that initiated the Protestant Reformation. At this time, Popes were as obsessed by their political power relative to the monarchs of Europe as they were by religious questions. Alexander VI’s civilian name was Ricardo Borgia, and was one of three Borgia Popes who blatantly used the papacy to advance the aristocratic family’s power and wealth. The Borgias had much to gain from the Church siding with the Spanish monarchy on the issue of colonization.

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Discussion of the Doctrine of Discovery in Canada rests on narrow grounds. Catholic teaching had little sway over the British Crown by the time Canada was settled, and the Crown claimed sovereignty over Canada by other grounds. However, the role of the Church in administering residential schools, and attempting to evangelize Canadian natives, was substantial, and the crimes that the Catholic clergy committed in those schools has been well documented. Colonization of the Western Hemisphere was a product of the Early Renaissance period in Europe, a period of absolute monarchs and deep political corruption. Inter Caetera was the product of perhaps the most corrupt occupant of the Chair of St. Peter. The politics of the time engulfed the Church, and more than 500 years later, it still struggles to explain itself.

References:

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2023-03-30/vatican-rejects-discovery-doctrine-indigenous-peoples/102168520

https://allthatsinteresting.com/pope-alexander-vi

https://www.ancient-origins.net/history-famous-people/house-borgia-0015088

https://www.ancient-origins.net/history-famous-people/pope-alexander-vi-0014104

https://atlantic-books.co.uk/book/the-borgias/

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/pope-francis-doctrine-discovery-indigenous-1.6536174

https://dehcho.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/06/DFN_Admin_pressrelease_2022-07-06.pdf

https://www.gilderlehrman.org/history-resources/spotlight-primary-source/doctrine-discovery-1493

https://ici.radio-canada.ca/nouvelle/1899194/evolution-religion-visite-pape-1984-2022-quebec-catholique

http://www.iraj.in/journal/journal_file/journal_pdf/14-358-149847068622-25.pdf

https://www.jstor.org/stable/1508245