United
Nations World Conference against Racism, Racial Discrimination, Xenophobia and
Related Intolerance 2001
In
the arsenal of claiming legitimacy for invasion, the monarchs of the Iberian
Peninsula held another secret weapon other than the Requerimento. This time it came from a higher source. It came from their highest spiritual leader
of their faith; the Pope. The documents
were called Papal Bulls and it was yet another armor of self
justification. A Papal Bull is a
historical document issued by the Catholic Popes to define a spiritual issue or
grant special privileges. There have
been many Papal Bulls issued throughout the course of Catholic Church history but
there are 3 which are specific in the formulation of human ignorance that leads
one to believe they have the right to invade and subdue the world.
List
of Papal Bulls
The
reigning Monarchs of Europe, the nobles of the land and those seeking personal
fortunes used both the law and the bible to justify their illicit actions
against native peoples. These two
components combined; the law and spiritual authority, gave rise to a twisted
fanatical concept called legalism. However,
the bible never promoted the abuse of the scripture to justify a means.
Momen tecakkvte
toyatskat, mv opunvkv-hervn
cem erkenakvkin, mv
eenakuecatskvte, ofv
svpaklatskan cen kerkuecvkvyet
os. …mv Cesvs Klist
pun naorketv elvtet omat, Hoccat vevkvyen Momet herihohcen, Hoccat vevkvyen,
nettv svtutcenan akvwvpkvtet
omat. 1Kvlenrvlke 15: 1,3,4
“I
declare unto you the gospel ... that Christ died for our sins according to the
scriptures, and that he was buried and that he rose again the third day.”1 Corinthians 15: 1,3,4 "
The
gospel or good news was to be spread by sharing the words of love not through
condemnation or conquest. Love your
neighbor as yourself were the powerful instructions Jesus commanded his
followers to obey. The Bible records
Jesus’ relationship with the spiritual authorities of his time, the Pharisees. Jesus condemned their hypocritical behavior
of twisting the spiritual laws to their political gain by pretending to do what
is right but neglecting showing mercy and compassion to others which is the
summation of the law. (Mathew 23). Jesus
called them religious and despised their legalistic attitudes.
On
June 18, 1452 Pope Nicholas V issued “Dum
Diversas” or Until Different. It
granted King Afonso V of Portugal to conquer the Saracens and pagans and reduce
them to perpetual servitude.
"We
grant you [Kings of Spain and Portugal] by these present documents, with our
Apostolic Authority, full and free permission to invade, search out, capture,
and subjugate the Saracens and pagans and any other unbelievers and enemies of
Christ wherever they may be, as well as their kingdoms, duchies, counties,
principalities, and other property ... and to reduce their persons into
perpetual slavery.” http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dum_diversas
Two
years later in 1454 Pope Nicholas V wrote “Romanus
Pontifex” or The Roman Bishop to King Afons V of Portugal granted him
exclusive rights to all the lands discovered by his countrymen.
“since
we had formerly by other letters of ours granted among other things free and
ample faculty to the aforesaid King Alfonso – 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, and to
apply and appropriate to himself and his successors the kingdoms, dukedoms,
counties, principalities, dominions, possessions, and goods, and to convert
them to his and their use and profit – by having secured the said faculty, the
said King Alfonso, or by his authority, the aforesaid infant, justly and
lawfully has acquired and possessed, and doth possess, these islands, lands,
harbors, and seas, and they do of right belong and pertain to the said King
Alfonso and his successors, nor without special license from King Alfonso and
his successors themselves has any other even of the faithful of Christ been
entitled hitherto, nor is he by any means now entitled lawfully to meddle
therewith.” http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Romanus_Pontifex
Although
the bull's primary purpose was to forbid other Christian nations from
infringing the King of Portugal's rights of trade and colonization in these regions
it set the stage of invasion and conquest of all unknown lands for the profit
of the Catholic Monarch. The purpose of the papal bull along with The Treaty of Tordesillas was to divide the newly discovered lands outside Europe between Portugal and Spain and was set at the meridian 370 leagues west of the Cape Verde islands of the west coast of Africa. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inter_caetera
Consequently “the Dum Diversas, the Romanus Pontifex and the Inter Caeera came to serve as a justification for the Discovery Doctrine and the Age of Imperialism. They were also early influences on the development of the slave trade of the 15th and 16th centuries, even though the papal bull Sublimus Dei of 1537 forbade the enslavement of non-Christians. The executive brief for Sublimus Dei was withdrawn by the Pope after protests by the Spanish Monarchy. Pope Paul III publicly sanctioned slavery in Rome in 1545…” http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Romanus_Pontifex
The Papal Bulls have never been revoked. However, the Catholic Church through Pope John Paul II has apologized for individual roles within the Catholic community for abuses in the past.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_apologies_made_by_Pope_John_Paul_II#cite_note-BBC_News_1-3
http://www.nytimes.com/1985/08/14/world/pope-apologizes-to-africans-for-slavery.html
http://www.whitebison.org/boarding-school-apology/history-of-apology.php
Historians and academics agree that the colonization of the New World saw extreme expressions of racism - massacres, forced-march relocations, the "Indian wars", death by starvation and disease. Today, such practices would be called ethnic cleansing and genocide. What seems even more appalling for contemporary minds is that the subjugation of the native peoples of the New World was legally sanctioned. "Laws" of "discovery", "conquest" and "terra nullius" made up the "doctrines of dispossession", according to Erica Irene Daes, chairperson/rapporteur of the United Nations Working Group on Indigenous Populations, in a study on indigenous peoples and their relationship to land.
These "doctrines of discovery" provided the basis for both the "law of nations" and subsequent international law. Thus, they allowed Christian nations to claim "unoccupied lands" (terra nullius), or lands belonging to "heathens" or "pagans". In many parts of the world, these concepts later gave rise to the situation of many Native peoples in the today - dependent nations or wards of the State, whose ownership of their land could be revoked - or "extinguished" -- at any time by the Government.
Indigenous
leaders today contend that it is essentially discriminatory that native title
does not confer the same privileges as ordinary title. According to Mick
Dodson, an Australian Aboriginal lawyer, the concept of extinguishment
"treats indigenous rights and interests in land as inferior to all other
titles". According to indigenous law and custom, indigenous interests can
only hold native title, and, according to the law put into place since then by
the European immigrants, native title can be extinguished. http://www.un.org/WCAR/e-kit/indigenous.htm
Summation
of United Nations World Conferences on Racism 2001 and 2009
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