Inter Caetera 1493
Various
groups representing indigenous peoples of the Americas have organized
protests and raised petitions seeking the repeal of the papal bull
Inter caetera which they believe led to the subjugation of their
peoples, and to remind Catholic leaders of what they perceive to be the
record of conquest, disease and slavery in the Americas, sometimes
justified in the name of Christianity, which they say have had a
devastating effect on their cultures.
According to the indigenous groups, In 1493, Pope Alexander VI established Christian dominion over the New World. He issued a Papal Bull called "Inter Caetera," words that instructed Europeans to "civilize" every "savage" they encountered. The result of that proclamation, they claim, was genocide of over 100,000,000 indigenous people in just a few hundred years.
Since 1992, the Indigenous Law Institute has been working to publicize the truth about the history of the Inter Cetera papal bull, delivered by Pope Alexander VI on May 4, 1493. This document, issued shortly after Columbus' first voyage to the Caribbean, expressed the pope's earnest desire that "barbarous nations be subjugated and brought to the faith itself," "for the spread of the Christian Empire." Earlier such crusading Vatican bulls called for "perpetual slavery" of Africans, by capturing, vanquishing, and subduing them, and by taking away all their possessions and property.
According to the ILI, it is not well known that the Inter Cetera bull directly influenced the development of U.S. Indian law. Justice Joseph Story revealed that the Supreme Court included in the 1823 ruling Johnson vs. McIntosh the doctrine of subjugation found in the Inter Cetera bull. To this day, the Johnson ruling, with its distinction between "Christian people" and "natives, who were heathens," remains an active precedent in the United States, in violation, to their human rights as American Indian nations and peoples.
Unfortunately, this Papal Bull is still on the books. The Church has yet to revoke this decree and acknowledge the damage done in its name.
The group has sent a letter to the Vatican requesting the revocation of the Inter Cetera bull. They believe it would be a heroic moral act that would assist to challenge and overturn the doctrine of domination that underlies U.S. Indian law. Indigenous peoples throughout the world have yet to be liberated from the historical legacy and yoke of the bull's dominating ideology.
The International Theological Commission says that the church is "not afraid of the truth that emerges from history." We must now wait to see if we can take the Vatican at its word, and whether a papal revocation of the Vatican's doctrine of subjugation will accompany the pope's noble words of contrition.
More information on this Inter Caetera and the impact to indigenous peoples can be found at the following link:
http://ili.nativeweb.org/pope.html
http://www.nowpublic.com/world/celebrate-indigenous-peoples-day-annual-papal-bulls-burning
An interesting note on Pope Alexander VI is that he had four children by his long time mistress Vannozza dei Cattani a countess of the House of Candia, three sons and a daughter: Giovanni, Cesare, Goffredo (or Gioffre or, in Catalan, Jofré) and Lucrezia
According to the indigenous groups, In 1493, Pope Alexander VI established Christian dominion over the New World. He issued a Papal Bull called "Inter Caetera," words that instructed Europeans to "civilize" every "savage" they encountered. The result of that proclamation, they claim, was genocide of over 100,000,000 indigenous people in just a few hundred years.
Since 1992, the Indigenous Law Institute has been working to publicize the truth about the history of the Inter Cetera papal bull, delivered by Pope Alexander VI on May 4, 1493. This document, issued shortly after Columbus' first voyage to the Caribbean, expressed the pope's earnest desire that "barbarous nations be subjugated and brought to the faith itself," "for the spread of the Christian Empire." Earlier such crusading Vatican bulls called for "perpetual slavery" of Africans, by capturing, vanquishing, and subduing them, and by taking away all their possessions and property.
According to the ILI, it is not well known that the Inter Cetera bull directly influenced the development of U.S. Indian law. Justice Joseph Story revealed that the Supreme Court included in the 1823 ruling Johnson vs. McIntosh the doctrine of subjugation found in the Inter Cetera bull. To this day, the Johnson ruling, with its distinction between "Christian people" and "natives, who were heathens," remains an active precedent in the United States, in violation, to their human rights as American Indian nations and peoples.
Unfortunately, this Papal Bull is still on the books. The Church has yet to revoke this decree and acknowledge the damage done in its name.
The group has sent a letter to the Vatican requesting the revocation of the Inter Cetera bull. They believe it would be a heroic moral act that would assist to challenge and overturn the doctrine of domination that underlies U.S. Indian law. Indigenous peoples throughout the world have yet to be liberated from the historical legacy and yoke of the bull's dominating ideology.
The International Theological Commission says that the church is "not afraid of the truth that emerges from history." We must now wait to see if we can take the Vatican at its word, and whether a papal revocation of the Vatican's doctrine of subjugation will accompany the pope's noble words of contrition.
More information on this Inter Caetera and the impact to indigenous peoples can be found at the following link:
http://ili.nativeweb.org/pope.html
http://www.nowpublic.com/world/celebrate-indigenous-peoples-day-annual-papal-bulls-burning
An interesting note on Pope Alexander VI is that he had four children by his long time mistress Vannozza dei Cattani a countess of the House of Candia, three sons and a daughter: Giovanni, Cesare, Goffredo (or Gioffre or, in Catalan, Jofré) and Lucrezia
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