Vatican formally repudiates “Doctrine of Discovery”

After years of pressure and following up on Pope Francis’s 2022 visit to Canada, the Vatican issued a statement on March 30 repudiating the 15th-century concepts known as the “Doctrine of Discovery,” which were used to rationalize colonization. Recent Bridgefolk conferences have examined the “Doctrine of Discovery” as part of mutual learning that Mennonites and Catholics in the grassroots movement for dialogue and unity believe necessary in order to strengthen just peacemaking practices in both traditions, and in both the United States and Canada.

As the US-based National Catholic Reporter reports in an article by its Vatican reporter Christopher White,

“In no uncertain terms, the Church’s magisterium upholds the respect due to every human being,” states a two-page text released jointly by the Vatican’s Dicasteries for Culture and Education and Promoting Integral Human Development. “The Catholic Church therefore repudiates those concepts that fail to recognize the inherent human rights of indigenous peoples, including what has become known as the legal and political ‘doctrine of discovery.’ ”

The declaration acknowledges that some scholars believe the basis of the doctrine is rooted in papal documents, but states that the bulls were “written in a specific historical period and linked to political questions, [and] have never been considered expressions of the Catholic faith.”

At the same time, it states that the papal bulls “did not adequately reflect the equal dignity and rights of indigenous peoples” and that the they 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.”

The Vatican statement has been a leading news story in Canada, reports Bridgefolk board member Gilbert Detillieux of Winnipeg. According to the CBC, indigenous leaders have welcomed the news, though with warnings that the statement will remain symbolic unless it leads to further concrete action by the Church, and by the governments on both sides of the border that converted the “Doctrine of Discovery” into the policies, laws, and court rulings that stripped indigenous peoples of their lands and led to the assimilationist efforts and abuses of residential schools.

Catholic conferences of bishops in both Canada and the United States have expressed support for the repudiation.

^{Pope Francis speaking at his meeting with delegations of indigenous peoples of Canada in April 2022.}

News and reflections:
Pope Francis’s apology for church abuses to indigenous peoples of Canada

Pope Francis makes historic apology to Indigenous of Canada for church abuses

by Nicole Winfield

VATICAN CITY (AP) — Pope Francis on Friday made a historic apology to Indigenous Peoples for the “deplorable” abuses they suffered in Canada’s Catholic-run residential schools and said he hoped to visit Canada in late July to deliver the apology in person to survivors of the church’s misguided missionary zeal.

Francis begged forgiveness during an audience with dozens of members of the Metis, Inuit and First Nations communities who came to Rome seeking a papal apology and a commitment for the Catholic Church to repair the damage. The first pope from the Americas said he hoped to visit Canada around the Feast of St. Anna, which falls on July 26 and is dedicated to Christ’s grandmother.

More than 150,000 native children in Canada were forced to attend state-funded Christian schools from the 19th century until the 1970s in an effort to isolate them from the influence of their homes and culture. The aim was to Christianize and assimilate them into mainstream society, which previous Canadian governments considered superior. … To continue reading, click here.

But is it enough? Here are representative responses:

Murray Sinclair – Ojibwe lawyer, judge, and senator from Manitoba who chaired Canada’s Truth and Reconciliation commission – calls Francis’s expression of contrition “a major step” but argues that the Catholic Church must go on to address deniers.
Jeremy Bergen – Mennonite theologian who studies church apologies for historical wrongs – elaborates on needed next steps and insists that the Catholic Church must not only apologizes for the actions of sinful Catholics but take responsibility for harms it has inflicted as an institution.
Associated Press reporter Peter Smith anticipates that US churches to will now face their own reckoning concerning boarding schools.

For other reports, see

Vatican News article
Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops press release
LaCroix International article

Read Pope Francis’s statement in its entirety or watch Vatican event.

_{Photos provided by Vatican website}

Bridgefolk mourns death of
Fr. Drew Christiansen, SJ

Father Drew Christiansen SJ died on April 6 at the Jesuit community in Georgetown University. Christiansen was an early participant in Bridgefolk and an enthusiastic supporter of Mennonite-Catholic dialogue at many levels. In a 2003 article entitled “An Exchange of Gifts” that summarized various streams of that dialogue and recounted the influence of Mennonites on his own theological reflection, Christiansen expressed confidence that “Catholics and Mennonites have begun to become sources of renewal for one another” through this unexpected but holy exchange.

When the first Bridgefolk conference at Saint John’s University in 2002 compared key beliefs and practices of Mennonites and Catholics, Christiansen summarized Catholic social teaching on peace and war. He was also a major panelist at a 2007 conference at the University of Notre Dame assessing the final report the of Mennonite World Conference and the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity, “Called Together to Be Peacemakers.”

Christiansen had participated in that international dialogue, which took place from 1998 and 2003, and had helped to draft the report. His extensive writing on Catholic social teaching and peacemaking was informed not only by his theological education but by years of work representing both the U.S. bishops’ conference and the Vatican in global peacemaking efforts, especially in the Middle East. At the time of his death he was Distinguished Professor of Ethics and Human Development in Georgetown’s School of Foreign Service and a senior fellow at the Berkley Center for Religion, Peace, and World Affairs.

America magazine’s obituary. America is the leading Catholic magazine in the United States, edited by U.S. Jesuits. Christiansen served as its editor-in-chief from 2005-2012.
Other remembrances in National Catholic Reporter, Crux Now, and Our Sunday Visitor.
A tribute from Churches for Middle East Peace (CMEP).
Other pages on the Bridgefolk website written by or referencing Fr. Christiansen.

L to R: John Lapp, Drew Christiansen SJ, Margaret Pfeil, Earl Zimmerman, Nancy Heisey (speaking), in 2005 meeting at Eastern Mennonite University.

Fr. William Skudlarek OSB Named Interim Coordinator

Darrin Snyder Belousek <darrin.w.snyderbelousek@gmail.com> announces that henceforth Rev. William Skudlarek OSB <wskudlarek@csbsju.edu> succeeds to his former duties as Bridgefolk’s Executive Director.

Fr. William’s Bridgefolk title is Interim Coordinator. Dom William is a monk of Saint John’s Abbey and serves as the international Secretary General of the official Monastic Interreligious Dialogue.

Pope calls for nonviolence in 2017 World Day of Peace message: U.S. religious leaders respond

Press release
Catholic Nonviolence Initiative
12 December 2016

Today in his message “Nonviolence: A style of politics for peace,” for the 50th World Day of Peace, celebrated each year on 1 January, Pope Francis urges people everywhere to practice active nonviolence and notes that the “decisive and consistent practice of nonviolence has produced impressive results.”

Continue reading “Pope calls for nonviolence in 2017 World Day of Peace message: U.S. religious leaders respond” →

Bridgefolk co-founder joins Vatican conference rejecting just war

by Hannah Heinzekehr
The Mennonite

A variety of peace symbols from around the world at the prayer table at the Nonviolence and Just Peace conference, April 2016. Photo provided by Pax Christi International.

In a landmark move, attendees at a Vatican conference have released a statement rejecting Just War theory and calling on Pope Francis to consider writing an encyclical letter or teaching document rejecting the use of violence. The April 11-13 conference was co-hosted by the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace and the international Catholic peace organization Pax Christi and drew over 80 participants from 35 countries.

The final statement says: “We live in a time of tremendous suffering, widespread trauma and fear linked to militarization, economic injustice, climate change and a myriad of other specific forms of violence. In this context of normalized and systemic violence, those of us who stand in the Christian tradition are called to recognize the centrality of active nonviolence to the vision and message of Jesus, to the life and practice of the Catholic Church and to our long-term vocation of healing and reconciling both people and the planet.”

The statement calls on the Catholic Church to develop a “new framework that is consistent with gospel nonviolence.” Continue reading “Bridgefolk co-founder joins Vatican conference rejecting just war” →

Vatican-hosted conference reassesses just-war theory

Challenging tradition, Catholics critique a principle that has justified war more often than prevented it

by Tim Huber
Mennonite World Review

A first-of-its-kind conference April 11-13 in Rome gathered Catholic educators and activists around the idea of moving beyond just-war theory to a greater emphasis on proactive peacemaking and Jesus’ life.

Pax Christi International secretary general Greet Vanaerschot and PCI co-president Marie Dennis speak with Cardinal Peter Turkson, president of the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace, at an April 11-13 conference on nonviolence and just peace in Rome. — Gerry Lee/Maryknoll

“Nonviolence and Just Peace: Contributing to the Catholic Understanding of and Commitment to Nonviolence” was coordinated by the global Catholic peace network Pax Christi International and hosted by the Vatican’s Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace.

“The significance of this meeting is not that it said something that’s a great leap from what popes have been saying,” said Gerald Schlabach, a Mennonite who entered into communion with the Catholic church in 2004 and participated in the meeting as an invited guest. “The significance is that peace activists are now having the conversation with the pontifical council.” Continue reading “Vatican-hosted conference reassesses just-war theory” →

Bridgefolk co-founder Gerald Schlabach to participate in Vatican conference on nonviolence and just peace

The Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace and Pax Christi International will convene an international conference on Nonviolence and Just Peace: Contributing to the Catholic Understanding of and Commitment to Nonviolence, to be held in Rome, Italy, 11-13 April, 2016.

In recognition of the Year of Mercy declared by the Pope Francis, this carefully planned Catholic conference on nonviolence and just peace will take place in Rome. Invited participants will represent a broad spectrum of Church experiences in peacebuilding and creative nonviolence in the face of violence and war. Among the participants will be Bridgefolk co-founder and long-time co-director Gerald Schlabach of the University of St. Thomas in Minnesota.

The conference seeks to initiate a conversation about Catholic teaching on war and peace, including explicit rejection of “just war” language in favor of an alternative ethical framework for engaging acute conflict and atrocities by developing the themes and practices of nonviolent conflict transformation and just peace. It will develop clearer Scripture-based Catholic teaching and an action plan to promote such teachings in seminaries, Catholic educational institutions, Catholic media, Catholic dioceses and parishes.

For more about the goals of the conference click here.
For a National Catholic Reporter article previewing the conference click here.

The pope’s arrival and the only Mennonite in the room

Sep 28, 2015 by Sheldon Good, For Mennonite World Review

WASHINGTON — I’m sure I was the only Mennonite there.

It was a cool, clear morning, with stars visible even through the urban twilight, as I cruised the six-mile bicycle ride from northeast Washington to downtown at 5 a.m. Sept. 23. I had been to 17th and Pennsylvania Avenue dozens of times before, but this time felt different. My adrenaline was pumping. The combination of streetlights and flashlights created a mixture of illumination and shadow. Cutting through the darkness, bodies were moving, directions were being given, expectations were high.

When I covered President Obama as a senior at Goshen (Ind.) College during his visit in 2009 to Elkhart County, his first speech outside of Washington as president, I learned how political reporting can be memorable, and an honor, yet not especially dignifying. I was reminded of this recently while at the White House.

I.D., please, the Secret Service officer said. I showed it to him. He motioned for me to pass. It was really happening.

Continue reading “The pope’s arrival and the only Mennonite in the room” →