Response – 14th April 2023 – Repudiating the Doctrine of Discovery by Peter-John Pearson
On 30th March this year the Holy See formally repudiated the ‘Doctrine of Discovery’. This doctrine should not be understood as a religious doctrine, but rather as a particular jurisprudence which emerged in European and American legal thinking. However, it was built solidly on concepts articulated particularly in three 15th century Bulls (papal decrees), namely, Dum Diversas 1452, Romanus Pontifex 1455, (both issued by Nicholas V) and Inter Caertera, 1493 issued by Alexander VI, in which papal ‘imprimaturs’ or permissions were given to colonial powers to take possession of lands not already settled by Christians, and regard them as their own; thus taking away from indigenous people the fundamental right to the peaceful occupation of their ancestral lands, and their sovereignty.
Response – Repudiating the Doctrine of Discovery by Peter-John Pearson