| Question Title | Posted By | Question Date |
|---|---|---|
| the Church and slavery | claire | Saturday, December 8, 2007 |
Question: Hi, A non-Christian brought to my attention that the RCC sanctioned slavery and that in 1452, 1455, Pope Nicholas V wrote a Papal Bull Dum Diversas that allowed with the Church's blessing, the Spaniards and Portugese to enslave "for all time" the Infedels and Pagans (Muslims and Africans) during their Holy Crusades. I have tried to find this information on Catholic sites, but can only find the information regarding these Papal Bulls on non-Catholic sites. Did such Bulls sanctioning slavery really happen? And if so, what is the history behind these Papal Bulls? What is meant by "slavery" for "all times" as I read? Thank you, and God Bless, from Claire |
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| Question Answered by Bro. Ignatius Mary
Dear Claire: I can find no reference to this alleged Bull, Dum Diversas, anywhere except on sites that are anti-Catholic or on sites that are only repeating reports of others. I have found a "quote" from the alleged document, but no source document. Wikipedia cites several books that report on the bull and even quote from it. But where is the source document? How do we know that these writers are quoting from a real document? Such historical hoaxes has been perpetrated before. To have a book, even by a historian, that quotes from a document that cannot ever be produced is suspect. How does anyone KNOW what this document says if it exists, how are these people getting quotes, if there is no source document? Usually when this happens it means that the so-called source document does not exist. These things get past around over and over, and repeated so many times that they gain a life of their own and a air of truth. I think it was one of Hitler's men who said that a lie told often enough will be taken as true. I would challenge these people to produce the complete source document or to shut up. There are numerous questions if this document does exist, which is why we need to see the source document. Was it an actually Papal Bull. People are notoriously ignorant about the classifications of Church documents. What "type" of document it was, a Bull, an Encyclical, a Letter, etc. matters. What does the FULL document say in its full context? That matters in properly interpreting the document. What is the context of the language of the document? It is not uncommon for certain language conventions to be used 500 years ago that to the 21st Century ear sounds like definitive, forever, language that can make it almost sound like an infallible statement when it is not that at all. Phraseology such as "for all times" may not actually mean "for all times" as we would understand those words today. It was a common rhetorical convention to use words like that back then to make the point of "this is my decision, the debate is ended." This sort of mistake is made by ultra-traditionalist concerning their contention that the Tridentine Mass is forever which is NOT and may be changed anytime the Church wants. So there are many questions to ask that cannot be answered without the source document and NO WAY to evaluate what the Pope was doing without the source document. If this document does exist, I want to read it. So to all those websites and others who claim that this document exists, put up or shut up. Show me the document but do not irresponsibly propagate rumor and undocumented accusations (which is the grave sin of calumny (libel). That is not Christian, in fact it is evil. God Bless,
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