Revoking the Papal Bulls
Resolution passed by Pacific Islander and Asian American Ministries (PAAM)
United Church of Christ, Hawai'i Conference
February 19, 1999

Whereas on June 18, 1452 the Papal Bull Dum Diversas was issued by Pope Nicolas V to Portuguese King Alfonso;

Whereas on May 4, 1493 the Papal Bull Inter Caetera was issued by Pope Alexander VI to King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella of Spain;

Whereas the fundamental principle of these decrees established Christian dominion and subjugation of non-Christian "pagan" peoples and their lands;

Whereas the aforementioned Papal decrees have yet to be revoked;

Whereas in August of 1992, at Yelm, Washington, the Traditional Council of Indian Elders and Youth issued, "Communique No. 15: Discovery-Heathens-Slavery-Religious Freedoms." It reads, in part:

We call on Pope John Paul II to issue a special message for this year of the 500th anniversary of the voyages of Columbus repudiating the Papal Bulls of 1453 [1452?] and 1493. Also, the Johnson v. McIntosh decision, which still stands, must be overturned, thereby abolishing the Christian Nations Theory from contemporary U.S. law. We will then be recognized as equal, eliminating altogether the need for the American Indian Religious Freedom Act. Our religious practices, ways of life, sacred sites-including geographical and geophysical sites-will then be protected by the principles of the First and the Fifth Amendments of the United States Constitution; (Cited in Newcomb, 1993)

Whereas in 1993 at the Parliament of the World's Religions, Chicago, Illinois, sixty indigenous delegates drafted a "Declaration of Vision: Toward the Next 500 Years from the Gathering of the 1003 United Indigenous Peoples," which was "endorsed by resolution in a near unanimous vote" (Taliman, 1994). It reads, in part:

We call upon the people of conscience in the Roman Catholic hierarchy to persuade Pope John II to formally revoke the Inter Cetera Bull of May 4, 1493, which will restore our fundamental human rights. That Papal document called for our Nations and Peoples to be subjugated so the Christian Empire and its doctrines would be propagated. The U.S. Supreme Court ruling Johnson v. McIntosh 8 Wheat 543 (in 1823) adopted the same principle of subjugation expressed in the Inter Cetera Bull. This Papal Bull has been, and continues to be, devastating to our religions, our cultures, and the survival of our populations;

Whereas since October 12, 1997, so-called "Columbus" or "Discoverer's Day," an annual global Papal Bulls symbolic burning has been initiated in Honolulu, Hawai'i calling attention to and demanding the revoking of these documents;

Whereas on October 12, 1998 a calling for the revoking of the Papal Bulls by the year 2000 was announced in Honolulu, Hawai'i;

Whereas on November 29, [28,] 1998 Pope John Paul II called "Christianity's 2,000th anniversary a year of mercy," saying "the church will seek forgiveness," "atonement," and "wants the church to enter the third millennium with a clear conscience" (Associated Press, Nov. 28, 1998);

Therefore, be it resolved, that President Paul Sherry on behalf of the United Church of Christ urges and calls upon people of conscience in the Roman Catholic hierarchy and in other organized religions to persuade Pope John Paul II to revoke the Papal Bulls Dum Diversas of 1452 and Inter Caetera of 1493 by the year 2,000.

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This paper and attached email message are prepared for the 1999 Hague Appeal for Peace conference under "The Root Causes of War/A Culture of Peace" program strand. The work briefly discusses historical and contemporary meanings of war and peace in relation to indigenous peoples. By "indigenous peoples," I primarily mean the original inhabitants of certain lands who continue to be subjected to colonial and neocolonial structures and domination. Indigenous peoples or "first peoples have a strong sense of their own identity as unique peoples, with their own lands, languages, and cultures. They claim the right to define what is meant by indigenous, and to be recognized as such by others."1 The paper primarily focuses on the Christian colonial encounter with indigenous peoples in the "Americas," the "clash of civilizations," and subjugation of indigenous metaphysical thought. I then address the issue concerning the revoking of certain "Papal Bulls," which were decrees issued by the Roman Catholic hierarchy that essentially sanctioned 15th century Portuguese and Spanish genocide campaigns into Africa and the Americas. The email attachment, titled, "The Global Indigenous Peoples Movement: A Case for Equality Among All Peoples," was sent to the "hap99congres.net" and surrounds the dynamics of the global indigenous movement as recent phenomenon and possible future contribution to global society in a world that "stands at a historical juncture between the roads to self-destruction and self-renewal."2

Christian Universalism

Christian universalist thought as moral and ideological tool justified European capitalist expansion and conquest into the Americas. Human souls which could be saved through conversion to "the universalist value of Christianity"3 were cast into the work force, usually as slaves and at the bottom of the heap. The ideology of the 1452 and 1493 Papal Bulls among other papal decrees played a central role in the establishing Christian dominion and subjugation of non-Christian "pagan" peoples and their lands.4 The colonial Spanish affirmed this claiming "the bulls gave them the right to use just war to convert local populations who had refused to immediately accept Christianity."5 Amos Kidder Fiske demonstrates that the ideology of the "discovery" of America was a Christian invention. Columbus was to

seize on the way anything that might belong to the "heathen," as a preliminary to their conversion, simply because the heathen were assumed to have no rights of possession, and not because the previous existence of the property was unknown. The so-called "right of discovery," as superior to the right of possession, was a peculiar conception of fifteenth-century Christianity. It was really the right to take by force whatever did not already belong to Christian nations.6

In the clash of civilizations in the Americas, how did Christian philosophy come to dominate indigenous metaphysical thought? Immanuel Wallerstein notes the monotheistic world religions (Judaism, Christianity and Islam) of an "older intellectual tradition" recognized implicitly the unicity of god and humanity, at a time when some humans "ceased to believe in a tribal god," the "crucial moral leap" as has been argued.7 This "unicity" is problematic since it is based on the Judeo-Christian monotheistic concept of a "creator god" or "supreme being" which was used as a tool of subjugation against non-Christian "heathen" philosophies. For indigenous peoples, this may be the crucial moment in "Old World/New World" history, when the Christian "sky-god" was thought to be superior to the indigenous "tribal god." From this moment forward, Christian universalist values come to dominate indigenous belief systems in the Americas as had been already demonstrated in Africa.

Although many indigenous peoples believed in a "creator god" or "supreme being," it was not in the same Judeo-Christian monotheistic tradition. For example, Mayan ceremonial leader Hunbatz Men points out that pre-Conquest Maya believed in a monotheistic "Absolute Being" named "Hunab K'u," defined as "measure and movement--measure of the soul and movement of the energy which is spirit." 8 Some have suggested that Hunab K'u is a post-conquest Christian invention meant to emulate Christianity, but hunab "does not convey the same idea as the Christian concept of God."9 Indeed, the notion of Hunab K'u reveals a "god" that is essentially omnipresent, rather than a "supreme" hierarchical being. The problem for Men is one many indigenous groups may share:

Self-appointed "official" historians have created the great colonial lie of the "white, bearded, and blue-eyed" Quetzalcoatl--a deception still perpetuated in histories of our beloved Mexican people. The true nature of Quetzalcaotl/Kukulcan remains a mystery that is accessible only through Nahua/Mayan science/religion.

The first thing the Spanish friars did was to order the destruction of the native chronicles. Then they set about writing their "histories." It is no wonder that contemporary historians who use these sources provide little insight. It is safe to say that no deep understanding exists today of Quetzalcoatl and Kukulcan, the cultural symbols of the Nahua and the Maya.10

The Papal Bulls

Indian people are denied their rights today simply because they were not Christians at the time of European arrival. Shawnee/Lenape legal scholar Steven Newcomb raised more than a few eyebrows when he made that statement at the Parliament of World Religions, held in Chicago in early September. The historic parliament was attended by more than 7,700 spiritual leaders and participants and was intended to provide a forum to foster spiritual understanding and world peace. 11

Bewildered and frustrated that he had yet to reach "Cathay" and the Grand Khan on his first voyage to the Caribbean, Columbus' "Oriental discourse" shifts to a "discourse of savagery" in the Herodotean tradition: "Gold now lies to the east: to the east are the Caribs."12 On his approach to Boriken (Puerto Rico), where they "eat men," Columbus' caravel encounters a stiff wind and a new course is set for his return to Spain.13

King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella immediately reported the "great news" of Columbus' "discoveries" to Pope Alexander VI, a Spaniard himself.14 On May 3 and May 4, 1493, the Pope "granted the request to confer the lately discovered lands on the Crown of Spain" by issuing three Papal Bulls.15 These decrees denied Portugal most privileges granted it under the Bulls of 1452 and 1454. A fourth Bull of September 26, 1493 bestowed "unlimited rights" to Spain.16 Thus, the 1494 Treaty of Tordesillas sought to remedy the conflict brewing between the two European powers. Obviously inspired by the second Bull "Inter caetera" of May 4, the treaty effectively divided the world in half, everything 370 leagues west of the Cape Verde islands went to Spain, everything east to Portugal.17 The general sentiment of all of the above papal documents in relation to European Christendom had been long established since the time of the Crusades.18 Newcomb points out

when Columbus sailed west across the Sea of Darkness in 1492--with the express understanding that he was authorized to "take possession" of any lands he "discovered" that were "not under the dominion of any Christian rulers"--he and the Spanish sovereigns of Aragon and Castile were following an already well-established tradition of "discovery" and conquest. [Thacher: 96] Indeed, after Columbus returned to Europe, Pope Alexander VI issued a papal document, the bull Inter Cetera of May 3, 1493, "granting" to Spain--at the request of Ferdinand and Isabella--the right to conquer the lands which Columbus had already found, as well as any lands which Spain might "discover" in the future. 19

Revoking the Papal Bulls

We call upon the people of conscience in the Roman Catholic hierarchy to persuade Pope John II to formally revoke the Inter Cetera Bull of May 4, 1493, which will restore our fundamental human rights. That Papal document called for our Nations and Peoples to be subjugated so the Christian Empire and its doctrines would be propagated. The U.S. Supreme Court ruling Johnson v. McIntosh 8 Wheat 543 (in 1823) adopted the same principle of subjugation expressed in the Inter Cetera Bull. This Papal Bull has been, and continues to be, devastating to our religions, our cultures, and the survival of our populations.20

In 1992, Steve Newcomb and Birgil Kills Straight, an Ogala Lakota, founded the Indigenous Law Institute as an initiative to revoke the 1493 "Inter Cetera" Bull. Newcomb has done intensive research since 1981 into how the basic ideology of the Bulls, i.e., the "Christian-heathen" relationship, still forms the basis of laws that continue to subjugate and deny the rights of indigenous peoples. As evidence that Christian universalist or supremacist ideology stills thrives today, Newcomb cites the 1991 British Columbia supreme court decision in Gitksan v. Canada which ruled that the Gitksan Indians had no standing based on the Law of Nations, also known as the "Doctrine of Discovery."21 He argues that the 1823 Johnson v. McIntosh decision, which forms the basis of U.S. federal Indian law, violated the U.S. Constitution's separation of church and state. Christian ideology as embodied in the Johnson v. McIntosh decision "provides the basis of Federal land-takings, the assumption of U.S. jurisdiction in Indian Country and the violation of our treaties."22 All of this is based on the Law of Nations, which in turn stem from the Papal Bulls. 23

In order to end colonialism against indigenous peoples and create a culture of peace, Newcomb has urged non-Natives, especially Christians, to convince Pope John Paul II of the importance of revoking these documents. He writes:

Revoking those papal documents and overturning the Johnson v. McIntosh decision are two important steps toward correcting the injustices that have been inflicted on indigenous peoples over the past five hundred years. They are a lso spiritually significant steps toward creating a way of life that is no longer based on greed and subjugation. Perhaps then we will be able to use our newfound solidarity to begin to create a lifestyle based on the first indigenous principle: "Respect the Earth and have a Sacred Regard for All Living Things."24

Finally, the annual global "Papal Bulls Burning" initiated in 1997 in Honolulu, Hawai'i has called attention to this issue and for the revoking of the Bulls by the year 2,000.25 Encouragingly, on November 28, 1998, the Pope called "Christianity's 2,000 anniversary a year of mercy," saying "the church will seek forgiveness," "atonement," and "wants the church to enter the third millennium with a clear conscience" ("Catholics' millennium offers opportunity for forgiveness, "Associated Press, November 28, 1998). Entering the millennium with "a clear conscience" would mean highly practical action taken on the part of the Vatican with regard to indigenous peoples. The opportunity for global self-renewal is one that cannot be missed.

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1. Julian Burger, The Gaia Atlas of First Peoples (A Future for the Indigenous World), London: Gaia Books Ltd., 1990, pp. 16-17.

2. Majid Tehranian, Human Security and Global Governance: Power Shifts and Emerging Security Regimes, A paper presented at an international conference on human security and global governance, Sponsored by the Toda Institute for Global Peace and Policy Research, School of Politics, La Trobe University, and the Spark M. Matsunaga Institute for Peace, Honolulu: University of Hawai'i, June 6-8, 1997, p. 2.

3. Immanuel Wallerstein, "The Ideological Tensions of Capitalism: Universalism versus Racism and Sexism," in Etienne Balibar and Immanuel Wallerstein, Race, Nation, and Class: Ambiguous Identities, London/New York: Verso, 1991, p. 33.

4. Traditional Council of Indian Elders and Youth, Communique No. 15, "Discovery--Heathens--Slavery--Religious Freedom, 1492-1992," Yelm, Washington, August 1992, in Steven T. Newcomb, "The Evidence of Christian Nationalism in Federal Indian Law: The Doctrine of Discovery, Johnson v. McIntosh, and Plenary Power," Review of Law and Social Change, New York: New York University, 1993.

5. Bill M. Donovan, "Introduction," in Las Casas, The Devastation of the Indies, p. 15.

6. Amos Kidder Fiske, The West Indies, New York: G.P. Putnam's Sons, 1899, p. 24.

7. Wallerstein, "The Ideological Tensions of Capitalism," p. 30.

8. Hunbatz Men, Secrets of Mayan Science/Religion, New Mexico: Bear and Company Publishing, 1990, p. 24.

9. Eric J. Thompson, Maya History and Religion, Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 1970, pp. 203-204.

10. Men, Secrets of Mayan Science/Religion, p. 109.

11. Valerie Taliman, "Revoke the Inter Cetera Bull," Turtle Quarterly, Fall-Winter 1994, pp. 7-8.

12. Peter Hulme, Colonial Encounters: Europe and the native Caribbean, 1492-1797, London: Methuen & Co., 1986, p. 41.

13. Ibid.

14. Paul Gottschalk, The Earliest Diplomatic Documents on America: The Papal Bulls of 1493 and the Treaty of Tordesillas Reproduced and Translated, Berlin: 1927, p. 9.

15. Ibid.

16. Ibid.

17. Ibid.

18. Steve Newcomb, "Five Hundred Years of Injustice: The Legacy of Fifteenth Century Religious Prejudice," Shaman's Drum, Fall 1992, pp. 18-20.

19. Ibid.

20. At the 1993 Parliament of World's Religions in Chicago, Illinois, sixty indigenous delegates drafted a "Declaration of Vision: Toward the Next 500 Years from the Gathering of the 1003 United Indigenous Peoples," which was "endorsed by resolution in a near unanimous vote." Quoted in Taliman, "Revoke the Inter Cetera Bull," Turtle Quarterly, 1994.

21. Newcomb, "The Evidence of Christian Nationalism in Federal Indian Law," p. 340.

22. Ibid., pp. 340-341.

23. Ibid.

24. Newcomb, "Five Hundred Years of Injustice," pp. 18-20.

25. See Resolution passed by the United Church of Christ, Hawai'i Conference, on "Revoking the Papal Bulls," February 19, 1999.

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Balibar, Etienne, and Immanuel Wallerstein, Race, Nation, and Class: Ambiguous Identities, London/New York: Verso, 1991.

Burger, Julian, The Gaia Atlas of First Peoples (A Future for the Indigenous World), London: Gaia Books Ltd., 1990.

Fiske, Amos Kidder, The West Indies, New York: G.P. Putnam's Sons, 1899.

Gottschalk, Paul, The Earliest Diplomatic Documents on America: The Papal Bulls of 1493 and the Treaty of Tordesillas Reproduced and Translated, Berlin: 1927.

Hulme, Peter, Colonial Encounters: Europe and the native Caribbean, 1492-1797, London: Methuen & Co., 1986.

Las Casas, Bartolomé de, The Devastation of the Indies, (1552), The John Hopkins University Press, 1992.

Men, Hunbatz, Secrets of Mayan Science/Religion, New Mexico: Bear and Company Publishing, 1990.

Newcomb, Steve, "Five Hundred Years of Injustice: The Legacy of Fifteenth Century Religious Prejudice," Shaman's Drum, Fall 1992.

Newcomb, Steven T., "The Evidence of Christian Nationalism in Federal Indian Law: The Doctrine of Discovery, Johnson v. McIntosh, and Plenary Power," Review of Law and Social Change, New York: New York University, 1993.

Taliman, Valerie, "Revoke the Inter Cetera Bull," Turtle Quarterly, Fall-Winter 1994.

Tehranian, Majid, "Human Security and Global Governance: Power Shifts and Emerging Security Regimes," A paper presented at an international conference on human security and global governance, Honolulu: University of Hawai'i, June 6-8, 1997.

Thompson, Eric J., Maya History and Religion, Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 1970.  

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