Papal protesters demand: ‘Rescind the doctrine’
July 29, 2022
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CWN Editor's Note: In a quiet demonstration during a papal Mass on July 28 in Quebec, protesters marched in front of the altar carrying a large banner that read: “Rescind the doctrine.”
The protesters left the church peacefully, but their demand—for an explicit repudiation of Catholic support for colonization—has been a theme of the papal visit to Canada.
During the era of colonization, papal decrees gave Spain and Portugal the right to claim territory in the Western hemisphere. Much later, in 1823 the US Supreme Court referred to the “Doctrine of Discovery,” which gave Europeans ownership of lands that they “discovered” in the New World.” This is the “doctrine” that the demonstrators want the Church to repudiate.
The Catholic bishops of Canada issued a rejection of the Doctrine of Discovery in 2016. Church spokesmen have indicated that a Vatican statement is likely soon.
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Posted by: Randal Mandock -
Jul. 30, 2022 6:33 PM ET USA
Catholic support for colonization? Does this concept have any more than zero meaning today? What an absurdity for a Church forced by a lack of faith to close down hundreds of parishes annually, offer pablum instead of substance, set an example of sexual immorality among its clergy that would shame an atheist. Colonization? We can't even colonize those among us who claim to be Catholics: acceptance of the Real Presence, of Catholic moral discipline, of consistency in defense of innocent life...
