Papal social thought on aboriginal rights: A study in history.
Creators: name: Stogre, Michael.
Publisher: name: Université d'Ottawa / University of Ottawa
Year: 1992
Subjects: subject: Theology.

description: The issues of political sovereignty and self-government that preoccupies so many aboriginal peoples today were also central when Innocent IV began his deliberations about the right of non-Christian peoples to dominium, the right to exercise political power and to own property. The question for both Innocent IV and Hostiensis was: did non-Christian peoples have de iure dominium? Innocent IV, basing his argument on natural law, affirmed the universal human right of peoples to political sovereignty. Hostiensis, arguing from a theological base, denied de iure dominium to all non-Christian peoples. Because they both supported the Church's mission to evangelize the nations their theories differed little when it came to implementation. In the era of European colonial expansion the issue of dominium was shunted aside in favour of working out relations among the colonial powers themselves. In this context of inevitable European expansionism, the papacy, including Alexander VI, tried to carry out a two-fold ministry of protecting and evangelizing the newly discovered peoples. Alexander's solution was to use the conflict and rivalry between the colonizing powers, and the mechanism of a line of demarcation, to ensure for the Church a space for evangelization. This overriding missionary concern of the papacy was confronted with new ideological challenges during the pontificate of Paul III. Paul III affirmed the humanity of the Indian peoples and defended aspects of dominium, but within the sphere of Iberian political sovereignty. He did this principally because an authentic response to the Gospel message required freedom on the part of those receiving it. Thus justice issues were seen as subordinated to, and as necessary conditions for, the work of evangelization. Leo XIII and his successors took the issue of universal natural rights for granted. In doing so they brought Catholic social teaching on slavery into line with modern teaching and practice. More importantly, Leo XIII began to treat human rights concerns as issues in themselves, and not just as necessary conditions for the successful reception of the Gospel. Leo also retrieved a fuller understanding of dominium. A review of this Catholic social teaching as applied to "minorities," and particularly to "aboriginal peoples," from Leo XIII to John Paul II reveals both continuity and innovation. The earlier overriding concern for evangelization has definitely continued. What is new is that issues of justice, development, and more recently, liberation, are now seen as integral to, and constitutive of, evangelization. This shift occurred principally during the pontificates of John XXIII, and Paul VI. In the pontificate of John Paul II, a growing ecological consciousness has influenced the teaching on the rights of aboriginal peoples. I submit that the Vatican has recognized the special relationship that aboriginal peoples have with the land. Thus the right to an adequate land base for indigenous peoples has been supported in a unique way by linking it with the fundamental right to life. (Abstract shortened by UMI.)