The Vatican, a supranational institution, formally repudiated the Doctrine of Discovery three years ago, a theory that legitimized the colonial-era seizure of land in Africa and the Americas. However, it has never formally rescinded, abrogated, or rejected the 15th-century papal bulls that formed the doctrine's basis, which explicitly authorized the enslavement of non-Christians and the taking of their possessions. This selective accountability emerges as Pope Leo XIV visits Angola, a nation still bearing the scars of historical exploitation and now navigating modern external influences.
In 1452, Pope Nicholas V issued the papal bull Dum Diversas, granting the Portuguese king and his successors the right "to invade, conquer, fight and subjugate" and seize all possessions, including land, of "Saracens, and pagans, and other infidels, and enemies of the name of Christ" anywhere. This directive also gave permission "to reduce their persons to perpetual slavery," according to the Rev. Christopher J. Kellerman, a Jesuit priest and author.
Another papal bull, Romanus Pontifex, issued three years later in 1455, further solidified these permissions, forming the foundational legal framework for colonial expansion and the trans-Atlantic slave trade.
The Sanctuary of Mama Muxima, an important Catholic shrine in Angola, stands as a direct monument to this historical dispossession. Built by Portuguese colonizers at the end of the 16th century as part of a fortress complex, it became a central hub where enslaved Africans were gathered, baptized by Portuguese priests, and then forced to march to the port of Luanda for shipment to the Americas.
Pope Leo XIV celebrated Mass before an estimated 100,000 people in Kilamba, a Chinese-built development outside the capital, where he called for Angolans to fight the "scourge of corruption" with a "new culture of justice and sharing." He denounced the exploitation of Angola's mineral-rich land and people, without directly addressing the historical role of his institution in legitimizing such exploitation.
The Doctrine of Dispossession
The Doctrine of Discovery, rooted in these papal directives, provided the theoretical justification for the systematic seizure of land and the subjugation of indigenous peoples across continents. This framework allowed European powers, emboldened by Vatican authority, to claim sovereignty over territories already inhabited.
Despite the Vatican's formal repudiation of the Doctrine of Discovery in 2023, the underlying bulls that granted explicit permissions for conquest and perpetual slavery remain unrescinded. The Vatican insists that a later bull, Sublimis Deus in 1537, reaffirmed that Indigenous peoples should not be deprived of their liberty or property and were not to be enslaved, a claim that scholars like Kellerman challenge as a "false narrative."
Rev. Christopher J. Kellerman noted that popes repeatedly authorized Portugal’s colonization efforts in Africa and Portuguese participation in the slave trade, a historical fact the Vatican has never fully admitted. He expressed hope that Pope Leo’s visit would offer a chance to learn about this history, stating, "It would be so powerful if at some point Pope Leo were to apologize for the popes’ role in the trade."
Kellerman also highlighted that most of the 12.5 million Africans directly victimized by the trans-Atlantic slave trade were sold into slavery by other Africans, not captured by Europeans. However, he confirmed that at the time of Muxima's construction, the Portuguese were actively "buying enslaved people and colonizing/slave raiding," fully utilizing their papal permissions.
Elite Narratives and Selective Accountability
Pope Leo XIV's personal heritage, which includes both enslaved people and slave owners among his American ancestors, was presented to him by Harvard University professor Henry Louis Gates Jr. The Pope reportedly inquired about his "ancestors, both Black and white, who were enslavers," yet he has not publicly addressed this genealogical research or his family heritage.
Black Catholic scholars frame the visit as an "important moment of healing" for their community, with Anthea Butler of the Koch Center noting that many Black Catholics are Catholic due to slavery and the "Code Noir," which mandated baptism for slaves purchased by Catholic owners. Tia Noelle Pratt, a sociologist of religion, emphasized the importance of Black Catholics telling their "own stories" and deemed it "inappropriate" to impose a narrative on the Pope before he speaks on his identity.
Cardinal Wilton Gregory, who facilitated the Gates-Leo encounter, expressed his "delight," stating that "many African Americans and people of color" identify with "great pride" the Pope's roots in their heritage. Gregory suggested this heritage forms "another link to the people that he tries to serve."
Previous papal attempts at reconciliation have also been selective. St. John Paul II, during a 1985 visit to Cameroon, asked forgiveness of Africans for the slave trade on behalf of Christians who participated in it, but not for the Holy See’s own institutional role. In a 1992 visit to Goree Island, Senegal, he denounced the injustice as a "tragedy of a civilization that called itself Christian," without acknowledging the Vatican's direct authorization of the trade.