Paulina, the racial construct was invented by Pope Nicholas V, in the 1452 and 1455 papal bulls Dum Diversas followed by Ronanus Pontifex which granted King Alfonso of Portugal the right “to invade, search out, capture, vanquish, and subdue all Saracens [the word used for Muslim people at that time], Jews, and pagans, whatsoever, and other enemies of Christ . . . and the kingdoms, possessions, and all movable goods whatsoever held and possessed by them and to reduce their persons to perpetual slavery.”
In 1492, Columbus sailed the ocean blue. On May 4, 1493, Pope Alexander VI issued the Papal Bull “Inter Caetera” now known as the Doctrine of Discovery which provided the legal and moral foundation for colonization and cemented the European/white world view we are living with today.
In 1578, the English crown fused the Doctrine of Discovery with its own Anglican brand of “Christianity” granting Sir Humphrey Gilbert a corporate charter authorizing him to “discover and take possession of such remote, heathen, and barbarous lands, as were not actually possessed by any Christian prince or people…” This corporate charter formed an alliance between missionaries and corporations for the express purpose of Protestant state building by converting, colonizing, and enslaving non-Christians – that I hasten to add, continues to this day in evangelical Christian circles.
In addition to the bible, the world view contained in the Doctrine of Discovery, including racial constructs are preached to indigenous peoples while food, water, safety and medicine are exchanged for conversion.
The first colonists brought the Doctrine of Discovery with them to America. The United States Supreme Court has cited the Doctrine of Discovery in its rulings several times, (as recently as 2005).
Last year, in March 2023 the pope repudiated the “Doctrine of Discovery” and stated it is not part of the teaching of the Catholic Church. Nonetheless, the pope did admit that the Church was aware that "the contents of these documents were manipulated for political purposes by competing colonial powers in order to justify immoral acts against indigenous peoples that were carried out, at times, without opposition from ecclesiastical authorities.”
We are left to contend with the alliance between corporations and evangelical Christians seeking wealth, global power and converts.
