Catholic Church and Slavery

I never heard this. I wonder if true.

In a Wall Street Journal March 27, 2006 letter-to-the-editor (subscription required):

The Church and the Slaves

In his March 17 commentary "Religious Minority" (Houses of Worship, Taste page), David Gibson said that "the Vatican condemned the slave trade only in 1839 . . . and it was not until 1888 that the Vatican officially condemned slavery." The fact of the matter is that in 1537 Pope Paul III issued three decrees against New World slavery. The second of these decrees invoked the penalty of excommunication on anyone who engaged in slavery, regardless of their "dignity, state, condition or grade." Because these decrees were for the most part ignored regarding the African transatlantic slave trade, Pope Urban VIII in 1639 issued another decree reaffirming Paul III excommunication for those engaged in the practice.

Unfortunately, as is the case with contemporary issues like abortion, not all Catholics obeyed even though the church did teach very early and clearly that slavery was inherently evil.

Rev. Michael P. Orsi
Research Fellow in Law and Religion
Ave Maria School of Law
Ann Arbor, Mich.