Roman Inquisition Quotes
It is asked: Whether it is permitted to capture by force and deceit Blacks and other natives who have harmed no one? Answer: no. Whether it is permitted to buy, sell or make contracts in their respect Blacks or other natives who have harmed no one and been made captives by force of deceit? Answer: no. Whether the possessors of Blacks and other natives who have harmed no one and been captured by force or deceit, are not held to set them free? Answer: yes. Whether the captors, buyers and possessors of Blacks and other natives who have harmed no one and who have been captured by force or deceit are not held to make compensation to them? Answer: yes.
Congregation of the Holy Office, [Roman Inquisition], Ruling on slavery, March 20, 1686
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This bull was issued to Bishop Ferdinand located at Rubicon on the island of Lanzarote. Many critics of the Catholic Church point to the widespread use of slavery by Catholic laity and even the clergy during the Age of Discovery. It is clear, however, from the earliest appearance of slavery during this period that the official teaching of the Church condemned it as a crime subject to the sentence of excommunication ipso facto (by the very deed itself). The Church’s condemnation of “slavery,” however, did not extend to “just title” slavery, which approved of the practice in circumstances in which the person was deprived of their liberty justly. Specific examples have included slaves captured in war, persons condemned to slavery for a crime, and those who sold themselves into slavery. For an example of a type of “just title” slavery being legitimatised, see Nicholas V {612174}. In many cases the line between slavery for no morally justifiable reason, i.e. racial slavery, and “just title” slavery remained unclear to Catholic laity and clergy alike.
This decree is an example of the Catholic Church’s official response to the advent of slavery in the New World. Slavery here should be distinguished from what the Catholic Church called “just title” slavery, which approved of the practice in circumstances in which the person was deprived of their liberty justly. Specific examples have included slaves captured in war, persons condemned to slavery for a crime, and those who sold themselves into slavery. For an example of a type of “just title” slavery being legitimatized, see Nicholas V {612174}. The practice of enslaving entire ethnic groups like South American natives was, however, “never before heard of” and was immediately condemned. In many cases the line between slavery for no morally justifiable reason, i.e. racial slavery, and “just title” slavery remained unclear to Catholic laity and clergy alike.
He was the last Pope to hold temporal power. This defense of slavery was all the more surprising because America was fighting about the issue in the Civil War and nations like England had abolished slavery. 99 years later Vatican II altered Pius IX’s statement forever. See {612715}.
This invalidated the official Catholic position taken 99 years earlier by Pope Pius IX. See {612301}.
Also known as Ferdinand II or Aragon. We have provided an extensive quotation from the letter. In retrospect, it is incredulous today that Ferdinand would make such demands or even would believe that the Indians would understand the terms or their consequences, the threats. Even the promises that are made were ignored because of the Indian’s “intransigence.”
While this apostolic letter condemned the slave trade, it fell short of clearly implicating the entire practice of slavery. It is clear that the Catholic Church at this time was reluctant to abandon its earlier teaching which approved of “just title” slavery. This distinction approved of “slavery” in circumstances in which the person was deprived of their liberty justly. Specific examples in the past have included slaves captured in war, persons condemned to slavery for a crime, and those who sold themselves into slavery.
Though Leo XIII was very much opposed to slavery, his claim that the Catholic Church “from the beginning” sought to end slavery overlooks the inconsistent reality of several of his predecessors’ teachings. For an example of this inconsistency one may find a relevant example as late as the 19th century, see the teachings of Gregory XVI {611428}, Pius IX {612304}, and Leo XIII {611844}
The defense of slavery in this Instruction is not a defense of the racial slavery that was prevalent in the South prior to the Civil War, but rather a philosophical defense of a just conception of slavery. Even so the Pope’s justification of the buying and selling of slaves flew in the face of a papal document issued by Gregory XVI twenty-seven years earlier {611428}. “Just titles” of slavery were approved by the Catholic Church in circumstances in which the person was deprived of their liberty justly. Specific examples in the past included slaves captured in war, persons condemned to slavery for a crime, and those who sold themselves into slavery. Even though the Vatican was defending “just titles” of slavery, this teaching has been seen as regressive and highly contradictory to true Catholicism. After this Instruction the distinction between just and unjust slavery in Catholic teaching would erode and twenty-one years later Pope Leo XIII {611844} would condemn slavery and openly support abolition throughout the world.
Prior to Vatican II, freedom of conscience was not explicit in Catholic Doctrine. The controlling view had been that of Pope Pius IX a hundred years earlier. See {612299}.
In this case, the Pope was obeyed on the issue of slavery. However, Papal injunctions against slavery have not always had the desired effect. See {617632}
This law, reflecting the religious values of the Puritans, would form the basis and example of slavery prohibition in some of the other Northern States of Colonial America. They colony allowed indentured servitude, if voluntary, but required that even indentured servants have certain freedoms, and of course when the period of indenture was served, the servant was totally free.
The Roman Inquisition, formally Suprema Congregatio Sanctae Romanae et Universalis Inquisitionis (Latin for 'the Supreme Sacred Congregation of the Roman and Universal Inquisition'), was a system of partisan tribunals developed by the Holy See of the Catholic Church, during the second half of the 16th century, responsible for prosecuting individuals accused of a wide array of crimes according to Catholic law and doctrine, relating to Catholic religious life or alternative religious or secular beliefs. It was established in 1542 by the leader of the Catholic Church, Pope Paul III. In the period after the Medieval Inquisition, it was one of three different manifestations of the wider Catholic Inquisition, the other two being the Spanish Inquisition and Portuguese Inquisition.
