Doctrine of Discovery
One year ago, Pope Francis disavowed the ‘Doctrine of Discovery’ – but Indigenous Catholics’ work for respect and recognition goes back decades
By Eben Levey — April 1, 2024
(The Conversation) — Indigenous Catholics have long argued they should be able to embrace both sides of that identity.
Amid war in Israel and polarization in America, the Telos Group seeks peace
By Bob Smietana — November 30, 2023
(RNS) — For years, the Telos Group has worked on peacemaking in the Holy Land — and imagining a world where Israelis and Palestinians can both flourish. Their work continues despite the war in Gaza. And they've also begun to apply the principles of peacemaking to America’s polarization.
Columbus Day celebrates an ongoing threat to American democracy
By Robert P. Jones — October 6, 2023
(RNS) — A federal holiday day at odds with our identity as a pluralistic democracy.
The story of Emmett Till is the story of America
By Robert P. Jones — August 29, 2023
(RNS) — If we trace the historical stream further back, we can see, in Emmett Till’s story, America’s oldest struggles. Indeed, the land itself testifies to the cultural world in which Till’s murder was conceivable.
Robert Jones’ new book roots white supremacy in 500-year-old papal decree
By Yonat Shimron — August 22, 2023
(RNS) — The Doctrine of Discovery shaped the way America’s white, European Christian settlers saw themselves and their mission and gave rise to uncontrollable outbursts of violence.
Undoing the Christian nationalism of the Doctrine of Discovery
By Andrew Whitehead — May 8, 2023
(RNS) — More direct action from the Catholic Church is necessary to uproot the remnants of the
Doctrine.
Pope voices willingness to return Indigenous loot, artifacts
By Nicole Winfield — May 2, 2023
ABOARD THE PAPAL PLANE (AP) — “The Seventh Commandment comes to mind: If you steal something you have to give it back,” Francis said during an airborne press conference en route home from Hungary.
Indigenous activists share mixed feelings on Vatican repudiation of Doctrine of Discovery
By Emily McFarlan Miller — April 5, 2023
(RNS) — ‘They haven’t even begun to come to terms with the true nature of what we’re actually talking about,’ Steven Newcomb said.
Responding to Indigenous, Vatican rejects Discovery Doctrine
By Nicole Winfield — March 30, 2023
(AP) — The Vatican said the papal documents had been “manipulated” for political purposes by colonial powers “to justify immoral acts against Indigenous peoples that were carried out, at times, without opposition from ecclesial authorities.”
Reckoning with their history, Lutherans issue declaration to Indigenous peoples
By Emily McFarlan Miller — August 11, 2022
COLUMBUS, Ohio (RNS) — The largest Lutheran denomination in the United States shared its Declaration of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America to American Indian and Alaska Native People for the first time in person Wednesday (Aug. 10) at its triennial Churchwide Assembly in Columbus, Ohio.
Leaving Canada, Pope Francis said it might be time to slow down as health declines
By Claire Giangravé — July 30, 2022
(RNS) – 'On the other hand, I might need to think about the possibility of stepping aside. It wouldn’t be a catastrophe,' the pope told reporters after his six-day 'penitential pilgrimage' to apologize to the Indigenous people of Canada.
The pope’s apology tour has some conspicuous gaps — let’s start with Junipero Serra
By Patty Krawec — July 29, 2022
(RNS) — Not too long ago, Francis rushed to canonize a man who perpetrated very similar harms.
Pope Francis’ meeting with Canada’s indigenous to focus on elderly, environment
By Claire Giangravé — July 22, 2022
(RNS) — While Pope Francis is expected to apologize for the mistreatment of Indigenous Canadians, his visit will also highlight familiar concerns that he shares with Indigenous cultures about care for the elderly and the environment.
The beloved community and the heresy of white replacement
By Robert P. Jones — May 16, 2022
(RNS) — How 'Beyoncé Mass' gave me hope after the Buffalo massacre.
Pope Francis apologized for the harm done to First Nations peoples, but what does a pope’s apology mean?
By Annie Selak — April 8, 2022
(The Conversation) — A Catholic theologian writes about why papal apologies can be meaningful, even when some may see them as mere words.
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