The Catholic Church’s Edicts Which Justified the Conquest, Enslavement, and Colonization of Non-Christian Societies
By Priye S. Torulagha
It is inferable that a large segment of the global population is not conscious of the fact that Islam and Christianity are responsible for the industrial-scale, commercialized mass enslavement of people, especially Black Africans and Native Americans. For the Christian Church, sections of the Bible provided the justification for conquering, enslaving and colonizing non-believers. The Quran (Koran) also provides justification for Islamic conquest, enslavement and colonization of non-believers.
Both religions also share a biblical story about Noah and his three sons resulting in the supposed justification for the enslavement of Blacks. In Genesis 9 – 18-29, the story is told about Noah’s drunkenness and nakedness. One of his sons, Ham, saw the father drunk and naked. He told his two brothers (Shem and Japheth) about their father’s nakedness without covering him with cloth. His two brothers avoided seeing their father’s nakedness and covered him up. When Noah woke up from his drunken stupor, he cursed the son of Ham, which is his grandson, Canaan, by saying that he shall be a servant to his two brothers, Shem and Japheth. In Genesis 9:25, it is stated “Cursed be Canaan! A servant of servants shall he be unto his brethren.”
This story is twisted by some racists and fundamentalist Christians, Jews, and Muslims to mean that Blacks are cursed to be slaves to Whites and Asians. Why? Because of the belief that Blacks descended from Ham through Canaan while Whites and some Asians descended from Japheth and the Jews, other Semites, and some Asians descended from Shem (“What is the origin of the Japanese and Chinese Peoples? A Biblical perspective, n.d.). This story is responsible for why Black people are viewed as inferior, disrespected, and discriminated in most parts of the world. Most Black African Christians and Muslims do not realize that a statement in the Bible is responsible for the predicament Blacks faced in the world.
A Chronological Listing of the Christian Edicts which Led to Slavery
In this write up, the focus is on the Christian edicts or papal bulls which justified the conquest, enslavement and colonization of the non-Christian world.
This is an abbreviated chronological listing of the edicts which resulted in the enslavement of African people and the mass killings and destruction of Native Americans in the Americas.
1. Pope Nicholas V issued papal bull “Dum Diversas” on June 18, 1452, which declared: “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 (Muslims) and pagans and any other unbelievers and enemies of Christ wherever they may be, as well as their kingdoms, duchies, countries, principalities and other property…And to reduce their persons into perpetual slavery (Browne, 2011, July 27).
2. Pope Nicholas V went further and issued the Romanus Pontifex of 1455 which gave Portugal exclusive rights to the territories along the West African coastline.
a. Thus, Portugal was given the right to invade, plunder and “reduce their persons to perpetual slavery” of non-Christian societies (Elliott & Hughes, 2019, July 19). Even Arabs felt victim to this edict and also suffered from slavery.
b. The Romanus Pontifex was an official proclamation or edict by the Christian Church, authorizing the conquest and enslavement of non-Christians.
3. Pope Alexander VI issued the “Inter Caetera in 1493.
NB: It authorized the Christian nations of Portugal and Spain to attack, conquer, loot, enslave, and colonize non-Christian territories.
4.Thus, Pope Alexander VI simply extended the decrees or edicts issued by Pope Nicholas V by dividing the non-Christian world into two and giving the Christian nations of Portugal and Spain the right to invade, pillage, conquer, and enslave the non-Christian populations of the territories.
5. Portugal was given an area stretching from the Cape Verde and running around Africa through India to China. This is why Portugal was the first country to visit the West African coastline. Spain ended up colonizing the entire Americas.
6. The Treaty of Tordesillas of June 7, 1494: Portugal felt that Spain benefited more than it in the sharing of the non-Christian world and called for a renegotiation of the division of the world. The renegotiation resulted in shifting the boundary 370 leagues or 1185 miles westward from Cape Verde. The shifting of the boundary resulted in Brazil coming under Portuguese control (Campbell, n.d.). This is why throughout Latin America, only Brazilians speak Portuguese language while other Latin Americans speak Spanish.
7. When other European countries realized that Portugal and Spain had become very rich from conquering, exploiting and colonizing various non-Christian territories, other European countries developed interest in embarking on their own effort to conquer and colonize. It was Portugal which initiated a European conference. The conference was held in Berlin, Germany, hence, the name ‘Berlin Conference.’ The Berlin Conference took place from1884 to1885, involving Belgium, Britain, France, Germany, Italy, Portugal and Spain. They eventually divided, conquered and colonized Africa. Thus, Western colonization of Africa, sections of Asia, Pacific Islands, and the Americas are a product of the Christian edicts authorizing the conquest, enslavement and colonization of the non-Christian world.
8. The Spanish Conquistadors laid waste to the indigenous population of the Americas. Native Americans also died in their millions through diseases that the European brought to the Americas, especially smallpox.
It should be noted that Portugal and Spain benefited immensely from the proclamations of the Roman Catholic popes. Thus, Portugal was the first European country to visit West Africa because it was given the power to conquer and colonize the region. Quite often, West African history books do not generally indicate why the Portuguese were the first Europeans to visit West Africa.
9. It should be noted that the Christian Church engaged in mass killings of people in Europe and encouraged the mass enslavement of Africans and Native Americans because there are sections of the Bible which justify the conquest, killing, looting, enslaving and raping. This is why in the past; it was common for ideologically committed Christians to carry out attacks against non-Christians. The Germans and Jews paid dearly during the Christian crusades, inquisitions, and the burning of suspected witches to death.
10. The “Ghetto” originated from the Christian effort to segregate non-Christians in Europe, especially in Venice Thus, the Venetian Ghetto came into being in 1516 when Christian authorities segregated the Jews in a walled island to separate them from the Christians. The model of separating the Jews from Christians was adopted in Frankfurt, Rome, and Prague by Christian authorities in the 15th and 16th centuries. During the 2nd World War, the Nazis forced the Jews to live in ghettos to separate them from the German people.
Sections of the Bible which Justify Slavery, Servitude, Mass Killing, and Raping of People
In this part of the write up, various sections of the Bible which justify slavery, mass killings, sexual attacks are listed.
The sections of the Bible which justify slavery:
- Exodus 21: 2-8 For Example
a. Exodus 21: 2 reads “If thou buy Hebrew servant, six years he shall serve: and in the seven year he shall go out free for nothing.”
b. Exodus 21:7 reads “And if a man sell his daughter to be a maidservant, she shall not go out as the menservants do.”
c. Exodus 21:8 reads “If she please not her master, who had betrothed her to himself, then shall he let her be redeemed: to sell to a strange nation, he shall have no power…”
Sections of the Bible which Justify Sexual Enslavement
- Exodus 21:7-11 deals with sex slavery
- Ephesians 6: 5
- Timothy 1, 6: 1-2
- Luke 12: 47-48 justify beating a servant
- Zechariah 14:1-2 deal with sexual enslavement
The sections of the Bible which Justify killings and Murder
- Judges 21:10-24
a. Judges 21: 10 reads “And the congregation sent thither twelve thousand men of the valiantest, and commanded them, saying, Go and smite the inhabitants of Jabesh-gilead with the edge of the sword, with women and children.”
b. Judges 21: 11 reads “And this is the thing that he shall do, Ye shall utterly destroy every male, and every woman that hath lain by man.”
Sections of the Bible that deals with Killing and Destruction
1. Deuteronomy 17:12
2. Deuteronomy 13:13-19
- Deuteronomy 20: 13-17 Mass killing and destruction
- Deuteronomy 22: 20-21
- Chronicles 2, 15:12-13 Killing of nonbelievers
- Isaiah 13:15-18 Killing of babies and rape
Thus, just as the Bible provides guidance for those seeking heavenly salvation, it also provides brutal ways of invading, conquering, destroying, killing, and sexually assaulting people. Hence, in Christian history, there have been occasions in which Christians applied biblical methods to inflict death and destruction on non-believers and Christians who did not tow the Roman Catholic perspective. This resulted in the mass killings of Christians known as the Cathars. A reading of the history of the Christian crusades, inquisitions and excommunications shows clearly the bitter experiences of people in Europe, Middle East, and the Americas in the hands of Christians, stretching for centuries. In fact, the Europeans got tired of the violent and murderous Christian crusades and inquisitions, hence, launched the European Renaissance from the 14th to the 17th centuries. The Renaissance resulted in the separation of church and state. It also led to the emergence of secular humanism.
Thankfully, while the Roman Catholic pope has acknowledged the atrocities committed in the past and rendered an apology, the Arab/Islamic world is yet to acknowledge the role it played in mass enslavement of Black Africans, Asians and Europeans.
References
AD 1493: The Pope asserts rights to colonize, convert, and enslave. (n.d.). Timeline. Retrieved September 26, 2019, from https://www.nim.nih.org/nativevoices/timeline/171.html.
Campbell, H. (n.d.). Treaty of Tordesillas. Britannica Encyclopedia. Retrieved September 26, 2019, from https://www.britannica.com/event/Treaty-of-Tordesillas.
Elliott, M. & Hughes, J. (2019, August 19). We’ve got to tell the unvarnished story. The New York Times. Retrieved September 26, 2019, from https://www.nytimes.cominteractive/2019/08/19/magazine/history-slavery-smithsonian.html.
What is the origin of the Japanese and Chinese Peoples? A Biblical perspective. Free Bible. Biblical Origins of Chinese and Japanese Peoples: A Historical Perspective | Free Bible.
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