Catholic Church and the Age of Discovery

[1] Antonio de Montesinos, a Dominican friar on the island of Hispaniola, was the first member of the clergy to publicly denounce all forms of enslavement and oppression of the indigenous peoples of the Americas.

In 1344, the Castilian-French noble Luis de la Cerda (Count of Clermont and Admiral of France), and French ambassador to the papal court in Avignon, proposed to Pope Clement VI, conquering the islands and converting the native Guanches to Christianity.

[5] In November 1344, Clement VI issued the bull Tu devonitis sinceritas bestowing upon Luis de la Cerda the title of sovereign "Prince of Fortuna".

Portuguese ventures were intended to compete with the Muslim trans-Sahara caravans, which held a monopoly on West African gold and ivory.

[11] A complaint was lodged by Fernando Calvetos, the Castilian bishop of San Marcial del Rubicón in Lanzarote, supported by the archbishop of Seville.

Pope Eugene IV issued Regimini gregis on 29 September 1434,[12] and Creator Omnium, on 17 December 1434, forbidding any further raids on the Canaries and ordered the immediate manumission of all Christian converts enslaved during the attack.

[11] While Creator omnium was issued in response to Portuguese depredations on Castilian settlements in the Canaries, the following month Pope Eugene issued the broader Sicut Dudum, indicating that Castilian slavers were not exempt and requiring that residents of the Canary Islands who had been enslaved were to be set free within fifteen days of publication of the bull upon penalty of excommunication.

[10] When Islam presented a serious military threat to Italy and Central Europe during the mid-15th century, Pope Nicholas V tried to unite Christendom against them but failed.

[16] Thus, the 1455 Papal Bull Romanus Pontifex granted the Portuguese all lands behind Cape Bojador and allows to reduce pagans and other enemies of Christ to perpetual slavery.

In December 1511, Antonio de Montesinos, a Dominican friar, openly rebuked the Spanish rulers of Hispaniola for their "cruelty and tyranny" in dealing with the natives.

[21][22] (French, English, and Dutch reactions against the maritime monopolies granted to Portugal and Spain, meanwhile, culminated in Hugo Grotius's work articulating the doctrine of freedom of the seas.)

For instance, on their view, war might be justified if the indigenous people refused free transit and commerce to the Europeans; if they forced converts to return to idolatry; if there come to be a sufficient number of Christians in the newly discovered land that they wish to receive from the Pope a Christian government; if the indigenous people lacked just laws, magistrates, agricultural techniques, etc.

More traditional theologians legitimized the conquest while at the same time limiting the absolute power of the sovereign, which was celebrated in others parts of Europe under the developing notion of the divine right of kings.

[32] One theory is that the Virgin of Guadalupe was presented to the Aztecs as a sort of "Christianized" Tonantzin, necessary for the clergymen to convert the indigenous people to their faith.

[33] Such Virgins appeared in most of the other evangelized countries, mixing Catholicism with the local customs: The first attempt by Jesuits to reach China was made in 1552 by St. Francis Xavier, Navarrese priest and missionary and founding member of the Society.

Three decades later, in 1582, led by several figures including the prominent Italian Matteo Ricci, Jesuits once again initiated mission work in China, ultimately introducing Western science, mathematics, astronomy, and visual arts to the imperial court, and carrying on significant inter-cultural and philosophical dialogue with Chinese scholars, particularly representatives of Confucianism.

At the time of their peak influence, members of the Jesuit delegation were considered some of the emperor's most valued and trusted advisors, holding numerous prestigious posts in the imperial government.

Church growth came to a halt in 1635 under the Shogun Tokugawa Iemitsu who, in an effort to isolate the country from foreign influences, launched a severe persecution of Christians.

Pope Gregory XVI, challenging Spanish and Portuguese sovereignty, appointed his own candidates as bishops in the colonies, condemned slavery and the slave trade in 1839 (papal bull In supremo apostolatus), and approved the ordination of native clergy in spite of government racism.

Junípero Serra, the Franciscan priest in charge of this effort, founded a series of mission stations which became economic, political, and religious institutions.

However, by bringing Western civilization to the area, these missions and the Spanish government have been held responsible for wiping out nearly a third of the native population, primarily through disease.

Under the rule of Kaʻahumanu the newly converted Protestant widow of Kamehameha the Great, Catholicism was illegal in Hawaii and chiefs loyal to her forcibly deported French priests onto the Artemise.

[citation needed] The prejudice against the French Catholics missionaries remained the same under the reign of her successor, the Kuhina Nui Ka'ahumanu II.

In 1839 Captain Laplace of the French frigate Artémise sailed to Hawaii under orders to destroy the malevolent impression which you find established to the detriment of the French name; to rectify the erroneous opinion which has been created as to the power of France; and to make it well understood that it would be to the advantage of the chiefs of those islands of the Ocean to conduct themselves in such a manner as not to incur the wrath of France.

You will exact, if necessary with all the force that is yours to use, complete reparation for the wrongs which have been committed, and you will not quit those places until you have left in all minds a solid and lasting impression.

In the late 18th and early 19th centuries, the Roman Catholic Church experienced unique difficulties within the United States of America.

He struggled to balance the desires of the US trustees to adapt and empower the laity and hold church property with the requests of the bishops and hierarchy oversees to preserve the doctrine.

[45] Much Catholic missionary work has undergone a profound change since the Second Vatican Council (1962–1965), and has become explicitly conscious of the dangers of cultural imperialism or economic exploitation.

It was officially condemned in 1984 and in 1986 by then-Cardinal Ratzinger (later Pope Benedict XVI) as the head of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, under charges of Marxist tendencies, while Leonardo Boff was suspended.

In response, Pope John Paul II made frequent travels to this continent, visiting among other countries Chile during Pinochet's rule.