kingdoms, dukedoms, counties, principalities,
dominions, possessions, and goods, and to convert
them to his and their use and profit – by having
secured the said faculty, the said King Alfonso, or,
by his authority, the aforesaid infante, justly and
lawfully has acquired and possessed, and doth
possess, these islands, lands, harbors, and seas,
and they do of right belong and pertain to the said
King Alfonso and his successors... Therefore let no
one infringe or with rash boldness contravene this
our declaration, constitution, gift, grant, appropriation, decree, supplication, exhortation, injunction, inhibition, mandate, and will. But if anyone
should presume to do so, be it known to him that
he will incur the wrath of Almighty God and of
the blessed apostles Peter and Paul....” 4
Bulls (and others) have indeed changed the course
of world history, affecting untold amounts of people
— especially indigenous societies, with devastating
impact on their culture and the wellbeing of our
entire earth. Quite frankly, there is such a broad
historical narrative that this article is only able to
scratch the surface of Christendom with its theological papal-franchise patterning. Research points —
at all corners — to stunning revelations of severe
oppression to our fellow sisters and brothers.
They sanctioned and endorsed worldwide enslavement, slaughter, and theft wherever no other
Christian nation had already laid their claim to
land. To reiterate simply, the discovery principle
from these bulls meant that the Vatican controlled
the world. It decreed that man was able to control
another. Basic, decent human rights were subject to
the beliefs of Holy Roman Church.
These genocidal, unnatural “laws” provided an
ethical and legal justification for all Christian
explorers to confiscate any land and possessions
from the inhabitants of “barbarous nations” known
as non-Christians. This caused the barbaric killing
or displacement of Indigenous peoples, while their
sacred lands were raped and pillaged for the
accumulation of wealth — and thereby, power —
to the “holy” Roman Catholic Church. Papal decrees
evolved into the discovery doctrine, which has
become the basis for our modern ideology of international law. The doctrine’s dimensional philosophy
continues to negatively affect millions of Indigenous
Peoples.
When engaged in the multi-faceted studies of the
“discovery doctrine” one thing is for sure: the
subject’s scope is vast. Ramifications of these Papal
In 1823, the “Doctrine of Discovery” was actually
adopted into U.S. law by its Supreme Court in a
notable landmark case, Johnson v. M’Intosh, 21 U.S.
4Romanus Pontifex, as published in European Treaties Bearing on the History of the United States and its Dependencies to 1648, Frances Gardiner
Davenport, editor, Carnegie Institution of Washington, 1917, Washington, D.C., at pp. 20-26. Original Latin text is in the same volume, at pp.13-20.
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