Vatican repudiates Doctrine of Discovery

Vincent J. Curtis

31 Mar 23

It is a point of theology is that not even God can change history.  But the Vatican thinks it can, and repudiated the so-called “Doctrine of Discovery” at the behest, in part, of native groups in Canada.

The doctrine of discovery is said to be contain in a series of five papal bulls issued in 1452, 1456, 1481, 1493, and 1514.  In none of them is there a statement declaring such a doctrine; it is inferred.  As I explain elsewhere (Aug 1, 2022 of this blog), what such a doctrine amounts to is a No Claim Jumping proposal among the Christin powers of Europe.  If one of the Christian powers discovered something in the New World, it was theirs to develop; no other European power could jump in and try to exploit the discovery.  That is why, in the history of North America, there was a New Spain, a NewFoundLand, a New France, and a New England.  The obvious aim of the proposal was to prevent war among the European powers.

Despite the excuse making by the Vatican, it was well-known that North America had people on it; and the papal bull of 1493 strongly encouraged King Ferdinand of Spain to spread the Christian faith in Spain’s new discoveries.

There are echoes of this “hands off” policy in the political development of Upper Canada.  British authorities purchased land from the Indians found in possession of it, and the Mississaugas of the Credit sold land to the British beginning in 1781; and it was only on land that the British had purchased was the common law enforced.  (Chief Joseph Brant owned slaves long after slavery by whites had been abolished in Upper Canada.)  With respect to foreign powers, British North America was sovereign British territory, but with respect to the Indians within that territory, matters between British authorities and Indians bands were sorted out by agreement.  The British did not rely on a right of conquest to settle British North America with respect to the Indians.

The Indians of Canada have convinced themselves that by getting this “Doctrine of Discovery” repudiated by the Vatican, that will open the door to getting Canada declared legally illegitimate.  Such a determination would further open the door to financial compensation and to power-sharing arrangements broader than that of the UN Declaration of the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, which Prime Minister Trudeau perfidiously accepted on behalf of his government.

Repudiating this alleged “Doctrine of Discovery” is a farce from beginning to end.  What the doctrine amounts to is not what the Indians think it is, and a tired, harassed, sick, old man, staring eternity in the face, consented to a statement allegedly repudiating something that either doesn’t exist or is misunderstood – not that at a remove of 500 years a statement of repudiation changes anything.  It’s like the Vatican consenting to an annulment after both parties, who never married in the first place, are dead.

But with this repudiation, start to look for aboriginal groups in Canada to claim that Canadian occupation of its territory is illegitimate, and aboriginals should be given money and power in compensation.

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