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THE DOCTRINES DECREED BY ROMAN CATHOLIC POPES, begining in 1452, were adopted by European Christian Nations for the purpose of providing them a legal cover to pillage and destroy non-White Civilizations around the World. The citizens of which were indiscriminately slaughtered by the tens of thousands, enslaved, raped, and dehumanized. Daniel N. Paul
"With regard to heretics two points must be observed: one, on their own side; the other, on the side of the Church. On their own side there is the sin, whereby they deserve not only to be separated from the Church by excommunication, but also to be severed from the world by death. For it is a much graver matter to corrupt the faith which quickens the soul, than to forge money, which supports temporal life. Wherefore if forgers of money and other evil-doers are forthwith condemned to death by the secular authority, much more reason is there for heretics, as soon as they are convicted of heresy, to be not only excommunicated but even put to death.
On the part of the Church, however, there is mercy which looks to the conversion of the wanderer, wherefore she condemns not at once, but "after the first and second admonition," as the Apostle directs: after that, if he is yet stubborn, the Church no longer hoping for his conversion, looks to the salvation of others, by excommunicating him and separating him from the Church , and furthermore delivers him to the secular tribunal to be exterminated thereby from the world by death." - Thomas Aquinas (1271)
SOURCE: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The origins of the doctrine can be traced to Pope Nicholas V's issuance of the Papal Bull Romanus Pontifex in 1452. The bull allowed Portugal to claim and conquer lands in West Africa. Pope Alexander VI extended to Spain the right to conquer newly-found lands in 1493, with the papal bull Inter caetera, after Christopher Columbus had already begun doing so. Arguments between Portugal and Spain led to the Treaty of Tordesillas which clarified that only non-Christian lands could thus be taken, as well as drawing a line of demarcation to allocate potential discoveries between the two powers.
United States law
According to the United States Supreme Court's decision in Johnson v. M'Intosh, this theory of Christian expansion and possession of newly discovered lands, despite native presence, was one by which all colonial powers operated. Chief Justice Marshall, writing the decision, held that the United Kingdom had taken title to the lands which constituted the United States when the British discovered them. Marshall pointed to the exploration charters given to John Cabot as proof that the British had operated under the doctrine.[2] The tribes which occupied the land were, at the moment of discovery, no longer completely sovereign and had no property rights but rather merely held a right of occupancy. Further, only the discovering nation or its successor could take possession of the land from the natives by conquest or purchase. Natives could not sell the land to private citizens but only to the discovering government.[1]
The doctrine was used in numerous other cases as well. With Cherokee Nation v. Georgia, it supported the concept that tribes were not independent states but "domestic dependent nations".[2] The decisions in Oliphant v. Suquamish Indian Tribe and Duro v. Reina used the doctrine to prohibit tribes from criminally prosecuting first non-Indians, then Indians who weren't a member of the prosecuting tribe.[3]
Source: First Nations History - We Were Not the Savages - Fourth Edition (2022)
The Doctrine of Discovery was used when France first claimed the land of the Mi'kmaq, which they christened Acadia. Marc Lescarbot, a French lawyer, articulated this warped Christian law in 1618 in his explanation of France's right to Acadia (now the Canadian Provinces of Nova Scotia, New Brunswick and Prince Edward Island):
The following is the wording of the 1493 Bull
Alexander, bishop, servant of the servants of God. To the illustrious sovereigns, our very dear son in Christ, Ferdinand, king, and our very dear daughter in Christ, Isabella, queen of Castile, Leon, Aragon, Sicily, and Granada, health and apostolic benediction.
Among other works, well pleasing to the Divine Majesty and cherished of our heart, this assuredly ranks highest, that in our times especially the Catholic faith and the Christian religion be exalted and be everywhere increased and spread, that the health of souls be cared for and that barbarous nations be overthrown and brought to the faith itself.
Wherefore inasmuch as by the favor of divine clemency, we, though of insufficient merits, have been called to this Holy See of Peter, recognizing that as true Catholic kings and princes, such as we have known you always to be, and as your illustrious deeds already known to almost the whole world declare, you not only eagerly desire but with every effort, zeal, and diligence, without regard to hardships, expenses, dangers, with the shedding even of your blood, are laboring to that end; recognizing also that you have long since dedicated to this purpose your whole soul and all your endeavors--as witnessed in these times with so much glory to the Divine Name in your recovery of the kingdom of Granada from the yoke of the Saracens--we therefore are rightly led, and hold it as our duty, to grant you even of our own accord and in your favor those things whereby with effort each day more hearty you may be enabled for the honor of God himself and the spread of the Christian rule to carry forward your holy and praiseworthy purpose so pleasing to immortal God.
We have indeed learned that you, who for a long time had intended to seek out and discover certain islands and main lands remote and unknown, and not hitherto discovered by others, to the end that you might bring to the worship of our Redeemer and the profession of the Catholic faith their residents and inhabitants, having been up to the present time greatly engaged in the siege and recovery of the kingdom itself of Granada were unable to accomplish this holy and praiseworthy purpose; but the said kingdom having at length been regained, as was pleasing to the Lord, you, with the wish to fulfill your desire, chose our beloved son, Christopher Columbus, a man assuredly worthy, and of the highest recommendations and fitted for so great an undertaking, whom you furnished with ships and men equipped for like designs, not without the greatest hardships, dangers, and expenses, to make diligent quest for these remote and unknown main-lands and islands through the sea, where hitherto no one had sailed; and they at length, with divine aid and with the utmost diligence sailing in the ocean sea, discovered certain very remote islands and even main-lands that hitherto had not been discovered by others; wherein dwell very many peoples living in peace, and, as reported, going unclothed, and not eating flesh.
Moreover, as your aforesaid envoys are of opinion, these very peoples living in the said islands and countries believe in one God, the Creator in heaven, and seem sufficiently disposed to embrace the Catholic faith and be trained in good morals. And, it is hoped that, were they instructed, the name of the Savior, our Lord Jesus Christ, would easily be introduced into the said countries and islands. Also, on one of the chief of these aforesaid islands, the said Christopher has already caused to be put together and built a fortress fairly equipped, wherein he has stationed as garrison certain Christians, companions of his, who are to make search for other remote and unknown islands and main-lands.
In the islands and countries already discovered are found gold, spices, and very many other precious things of divers kinds and qualities. Wherefore, as becomes Catholic kings and princes, after earnest consideration of all matters, especially of the rise and spread of the Catholic faith, as was the fashion of your ancestors, kings of renowned memory, you have purposed with the favor of divine clemency to bring under your sway the said main-lands and islands, with their residents and inhabitants, and to bring them to the Catholic faith.
Hence, heartily commending in the Lord this your holy and praiseworthy purpose, and desirous that it be duly accomplished, and that the name of our Savior be carried into those regions, we exhort you very earnestly in the Lord, and by your reception of holy baptism, whereby you are bound to our apostolic commands, and by the bowels of the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ, enjoy strictly, that inasmuch as with eager zeal for the true faith you design to equip and despatch this expedition, you purpose also, as is your duty, to lead the peoples dwelling in those islands and countries to embrace the Christian religion; nor at any time let dangers or hardships deter you there from, with the stout hope and trust in your hearts that Almighty God will further your undertakings.
And, in order that you may enter upon so great an undertaking with greater readiness and heartiness, endowed with benefit of our apostolic favor, we, of our own accord, not at your instance, nor the request of anyone else in your regard, but out of our own sole largess and certain knowledge, and out of the fullness of our apostolic power, by the authority of Almighty God conferred upon us in blessed Peter, and of the vicarship of Jesus Christ, which we hold on earth, do by tenor of these presents, should any of said islands have been found by your envoys and captains, give, grant, and assign to you and your heirs and successors, kings of Castile and Leon, forever, together with all their dominions, cities, camps, places, and villages, and all rights, jurisdictions, and appurtenances, all islands and main-lands found and to be found, discovered and to be discovered towards the west and south, by drawing and establishing a line from the Arctic pole, namely the north, to the Antarctic pole, namely the south, no matter whether the said main-lands and islands are found and to be found in the direction of India, or towards any other quarter, the said line to be distant one hundred leagues towards the west and south from any of the islands commonly known as the Azores and Cape Verde.
With this proviso however, that none of the islands and main-lands, found and to be found, discovered and to be discovered, beyond that said line towards the west and south, be in the actual possession of any Christian king or prince up to the birthday of our Lord Jesus Christ just past, from which the present year one thousand four hundred ninety-three begins.
And we make, appoint, and depute you and your said heirs and successors lords of them with full and free power, authority, and jurisdiction of every kind; with this proviso however, that by this our gift, grant, and assignment no right acquired by any Christian prince, who may be in actual possession of said islands and main-lands prior to the said birthday of our Lord Jesus Christ, is hereby to be understood to be withdrawn or taking away.
Moreover we command you, in virtue of holy obedience that, employing all due diligence in the premises, as you also promise--nor do we doubt your compliance therein in accordance with your loyalty and royal greatness of spirit--you should appoint to the aforesaid main-lands and islands worthy, God-fearing, learned, skilled, and experienced men, in order to instruct the aforesaid inhabitants and residents in the Catholic faith and train them in good morals.
Furthermore, under penalty of excommunication late sententie to be incurred ipso facto, should anyone thus contravene, we strictly forbid all persons of whatsoever rank, even imperial and royal, or of whatsoever estate, degree, order, or condition, to dare without your special permit, or that of your aforesaid heirs and successors, to go for the purpose of trade or any other reason to the islands or main-lands, found and to be found, discovered and to be discovered, towards the west and south, by drawing and establishing a line from the Arctic pole to the Antarctic pole, no matter whether the main-lands and islands, found and to be found, lie in the direction of India or toward any other quarter whatsoever, the said line to be distant one hundred leagues towards the west and south, as is aforesaid, from any of the islands commonly known as the Azores and Cape Verde; apostolic constitutions and ordinances and other decrees whatsoever to the contrary notwithstanding.
We trust in Him, from whom empires and governments and all good things proceed, that, should you, with the Lord's guidance, pursue this holy and praiseworthy undertaking, in a short while your hardships and endeavors will attain the most felicitous result, to the happiness and glory of all Christendom. But inasmuch as it would be difficult to have these present letters sent to all places where desirable, we wish, and with similar accord and knowledge do decree, that copies of them, signed by the hand of a public notary commissioned therefor, and sealed with the seal of any ecclesiastical officer or ecclesiastical court, the same respect is to be shown in court and outside as well as anywhere else as would be given to these presents should they thus be exhibited or shown. Let no one, therefore, infringe, or with rash boldness contravene, this our recommendation, exhortation, requisition, gift, grant, assignment, constitution, deputation, decree, mandate, prohibition, and will. Should anyone presume to attempt this, be it known to him that he will incur the wrath of Almighty God and of the blessed apostles Peter and Paul.
Given at Rome, at St. Peter's, in the year of the incarnation of our Lord one thousand four hundred and ninety-three, the fourth of May, and the first year of our pontificate.
Gratis by order of our holy lord, the pope.
June. For the referendary, For J. Bufolinus.
A. de Mucciarellis. A. Santoseverino.
L. Podocatharus.
Episcopal Church repudiates Doctrine of Discovery
Urges US adoption of UN Declaration
The resolution was passed unanimously by the Episcopal House of Bishops, and by an overwhelming majority of the House of Delegates during the church's 76th GeneralConvention July 8 - 17, 2009 in Anaheim, California.
Title: Repudiate the Doctrine of Discovery
Resolved, the House of Delegates concurring, That the 76th General Convention declare the Christian Doctrine of Discover - the dogma that Christian sovereigns and their representative explorers could assert dominion and title over non-Christian lands with the full blessing and sanction of the Church - as evil and opposed to our understanding of the inherent rights all humans and peoples enjoy derived from God, and that this declaration be shared with all nation states located within the Episcopal Church's boundaries along with the United Nations;
and be it further Resolved, That this body direct the appropriate representatives of the House of Bishops and House of Deputies to write to Queen Elizabeth II, the Supreme Governor of the Church of England, requesting that her Majesty disavow, and repudiate publicly, the claimed validity of the Christian Doctrine of Discovery; this doctrine is found in the Royal Charter (Letters Patent) that Queen Elizabeth Irs predecessor, King Henry VII, issued to John Cabot and his sons in 1496 and subsequently reaffirmed by the charters of Henry Gilbert in 1583 and Walter Raleigh in 1584 and the Virginia Company charters of 1606 and 1609. These led to the colonizing dispossession of indigenous peoples from their lands in North America and to the dehumanization and subjugation of non-Christian peoples (which the monarchy termed "heathens" and "infidels");
and be it further Resolved, That each diocese within the Episcopal Church be encouraged to reflect upon its, the Episcopal Church's, and the Anglican Communion's injustices committed against Indigenous People and encourage all Episcopalians within the Episcopal Church to seek a greater understanding of the Indigenous Peoples within geo-political boundaries claimed by the United States and other nation states located within the Episcopal Church's boundaries, and to support those peoples in their ongoing efforts for their inherent sovereignty and fundamental human rights as peoples to be respected.
EXPLANATION: European Christian religious leaders, such as Pope Nicholas V, Martin V, Pope Alexander VI, and Pope
Endorser(s):The Rev. Jennifer L. Baskerville-Burrows, The Very Rev. G. Thomas Luck
Sponsor(s):Dr. Charles N. Stewart
New Spain – Old Horrors
The following is a quote from a timeline of the Christian European Spanish barbarism that was part of the conquering and depopulating of the Americas by Kenneth Humphreys
"The plunder of the empires of the Americas was to good purpose – it allowed Spain to finance religious persecution in Europe for over a century. Spanish wars of conquest included laying waste much of the Netherlands and a disastrous attempt to invade England. By destroying diverse cultures in the New World the Christian conquerors were able not only to eradicate civilizations more ancient than their own but also were able to senselessly erase a vibrant artistic legacy and even scientific knowledge. In their stead the Christian adventurers imposed a racist tyranny and an alien god. Millions were enslaved but their short and brutalized lives had at least known Jesus."
To read more click TIMELINE
To read about the horrible consequences that the Doctrine visited upon American Indians click American Indian Genocide
World Council of Churches News
WCC disowns doctrine used against Indigenous Peoples
Published February 27, 2012
In a recent meeting, the World Council of Churches (WCC) Executive Committee denounced the “Doctrine of Discovery”, which has been used to subjugate and colonize Indigenous Peoples. The Executive Committee issued a statement calling the nature of the doctrine" fundamentally opposed to the gospel of Jesus”.
The statement was issued in a meeting from 14 to 18 February in Bossey, Switzerland, urging to repudiate this doctrine, which has permitted the enslavement of Indigenous Peoples in the name of Christianity.
The origin of the doctrine goes back to the papal bulls issued by Pope Nicholas V in 1452 and 1455 respectively, allowing the invasion and killing of the Indigenous Peoples.
These historical church documents titled Dum Diversas and Romanus Pontifex called for non-Christian people to be captured, vanquished and to have their possessions and property seized by the Christian monarchs.
On basis of the same historical precedence the statement points out that, “Christopher Columbus was instructed, for example, to ‘discover and conquer,’ ‘subdue’ and ‘acquire’ distant lands.”
European countries like Spain, Portugal, England, France, and Holland used the doctrine. The doctrine was introduced in the law of the United States and was referenced in the United States Supreme Court case of Johnson v. M'Intosh, 21 U.S. (8 Wheat.) 543 in 1823, which in turn has been cited by courts in Australia, Canada and New Zealand.
Therefore the Executive Committee statement points out that the “current situation of Indigenous Peoples around the world is the result of a linear programme of 'legal' precedent, originating with the Doctrine of Discovery and codified in contemporary national laws and policies.”
The statement rejects the idea endorsed by the doctrine that “Christians enjoy a moral and legal right based solely on their religious identity to invade and seize indigenous lands and to dominate Indigenous Peoples.”
Rights of Indigenous Peoples
Calling the “Doctrine of Discovery” a violation of human rights, the statement supports the “rights of Indigenous Peoples to live in and retain their traditional lands and territories" and "to maintain and enrich their cultures.”
Along with the Episcopal Dioceses of Maine and Central New York and the Philadelphia Yearly Meeting of the Religious Society of Friends, many churches have denounced the doctrine in the United States and Canada.
Last year several Unitarian Universalist churches and Quaker organizations also adopted resolutions to repudiate the doctrine.
As the “Doctrine of Discovery” will be the theme for the 11th session of the United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues (UNPFII) this year, the Executive Committee statement stressed the need to sensitize churches on this issue.
The UNPFII session will take place from 7 to 18 May 2012 in New York.
In consideration of this, the Executive Committee statement urged the churches and ecumenical organizations to mobilize and participate in the UNPFII process.
The statement requested the governments to “ensure that their policies, regulations and laws that affect Indigenous Peoples comply with international conventions and, in particular, conform to the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples and the International Labour Organization’s Convention 169.”
Through this statement, the WCC reaffirms its commitment to the rights of the Indigenous Peoples, asking each member church to “reflect upon its own national and church history” and to seek a better understanding of the issues faced by Indigenous Peoples.
Read full text of the WCC Executive Committee statement
"Is five hundred and seven years too long for justice?" (article from the ECHOES magazine, 1999)
WCC programme: Solidarity with Indigenous Peoples
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Aloha kakou y guatiao,
I wanted to post again, for the record, the 1999 United Church of Christ’s (Hawai‘i Conference) resolution calling for the revocation of the papal bulls Dum Diversas (1452) and Inter Caetera (1493). The UCC was perhaps the first Christian denomination to draw attention to this issue and undertake an action to specifically call for the repudiation of these documents. Considerable attention has rightly been given to the recent Episcopal Church, World Council of Churches, and other churches’ denunciations of the “doctrine of discovery.” The UCC “pioneered” this denominational effort. Of course all of this has been initiated at the prompting of indigenous peoples themselves.
The resolution was officially submitted at the Hague Appeal for Peace conference, The Hague, Netherlands, in 1999.
In the ancestral spirit,
Revoking the Papal Bulls
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, 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.
Halifax Hearld - February 10, 2015
Justice Murray Sinclair says the Truth and Reconciliation Commission is weighing whether to ask the Vatican to repeal some Papal Bulls that allowed explorers the right to conquer the New World and the “heathen” aboriginals.
Canada’s Truth and Reconciliation Commission is weighing whether to ask the Vatican to repeal the Papal Bulls of Discovery that granted 15th-century explorers the right to conquer the New World and the “heathen” aboriginals that called it home.
Chair Murray Sinclair says the commission examining the impact of Canada’s Indian residential schools is looking carefully at the 1455 and 1493 Catholic edicts as part of its final report.
Many argue the proclamations legitimized the treatment of aboriginal people as “less than human.” Crown sovereignty in Canada can be traced back to those papal bulls and neither Canada nor the United States has repudiated them, Sinclair said.
“The movement to repudiation is very strong,” Sinclair said. “If we as the commission are going to join that movement or endorse
it, … we have to come to a conclusion that it’s necessary for reconciliation, to establish a proper relationship between aboriginal and non-aboriginal people.”
A growing chorus in Canada is calling on the Vatican to help begin a new relationship with aboriginal people on equal footing.
The discovery bulls, and others in the same vein that followed, gave Catholic explorers “full and free power, authority, and jurisdiction of every kind” and outlined their “duty to lead the peoples dwelling in those islands and countries to embrace the Christian religion.”
If aboriginal people refused, the Vatican granted its envoys the authority to enslave and kill.
If the commission recommends the bulls be rescinded, Sinclair said, it has to weigh the legal implications, which could strike at the core of Crown sovereignty over land.
“What would be the basis for rationalizing Crown sovereignty if the Doctrine of Discovery is no longer available?” Sinclair said. “We have to consider that question and perhaps give some direction about how that relationship can be re-established in a proper way … on a nation-to-nation level.”
The United Nations appointed a special rapporteur in 2009 who found the bulls lie “at the root of the violations of indigenous peoples’ human rights.” The edicts have resulted in the “mass appropriation of the lands, territories, and resources of indigenous peoples,” the UN found. They also form the legal basis of many modern-day land claim disputes, it said.
Keith Matthew, former chief of Simpcw First Nation in British Columbia, has been quietly building support in Canada for their repeal. He recently got the support of the Assembly of First Nations, which passed a resolution at its December meeting endorsing the revocation of the bulls.
It’s about hitting the “reset button on our relationship,” Matthew said. “The papal bulls put us in a position no better than animals.
“We know better today. We’re just as civilized and human as anyone else in this world. It’s really about righting a historic wrong.
“I’m no animal. I’m a person, a human being.”
Hayden King, director of the Centre for Indigenous Governance at Ryerson University, said simply repealing the edicts isn’t enough for reconciliation.
He said it would be more significant if the government recognized its sovereignty was based on a “fairy tale” that aboriginal people are not human and further recognized aboriginal title to land.
“Unless there was corresponding action, it would seem kind of hollow.”
For expert advise, and opinions about the Doctrine, contact Dr. Anthony Castanha, a lecturer at the University of Hawaii, Social Studies Department. castanha@hawaii.edu
Papal Bulls Website: http://bullsburning.itgo.com/papbull.htm>
Click to read about American Indian Genocide
Doctrine of Discovery
"Men never do evil so completely and cheerfully as when they do it from religious conviction."
Blaise Pascal (1670)********************
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The Bull Inter Caetera
Pope Alexander VI
May 4, 1493
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From a stamp engraved on copper by Th. de Bry, 1590: “Discovery of America,
12 May, 1492, Christopher Columbus erects the cross and baptizes the Isle of
Guanahani by the Christian Name of St. Salvador.”
Tony Castana
Coordinator
Kosmos Indigena
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Commission may seek repeal of 15th-century Papal Bulls
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