Posted by:
Gentle George
(
)
Date: April 17, 2017 10:15PM
What the Catholic Church was doing in the 19th century? I didn't expect to give a history lesson today, however that's no problem. Let's talk about what the Catholic Church was doing in the 19th century. There were many Catholic immigrants coming into the country who helped it grow by their hard work ethics, and living the American dream of starting their own businesses, thereby employing others.
Don't forget the anti-Irish/anti-Catholic mobs incited by Lyman Beecher and Horace Bushnell. During this time, the beginnings of the Catholic school system were also being laid in the US. This is important because it was part of the long history of education put forth by the Catholic Church. Don't forget that many of the oldest universities in existence were founded by the Catholic Church. These include: University of Bologna (Spain) founded in 1088, University of Paris (1045), Oxford (1096), Cambridge (1209), and others.
As for slavery which you alluded to, the Church has despised vehemently, and continues to despise incessantly the practice of it. Catholic opposition to slavery really started to be put forth with great fervor in 1435. Even before that, the Mercedarians, for example, began in 1218 for the purpose of ransoming slaves. There were many pronouncements about the unjust nature of slavery by Pope Paul III in 1537.
It's also important to acknowledge that while there were those in the Church who owned slaves, they quickly came to realize the problems and morality of the situation. I won't pretend that many people in the Church over its 2,000 year existence have been without sin, or haven't done evil things. However to hold the entirety of the Church responsible throughout all time because of what some have done is disingenuous, inaccurate, and unjust to say the least.
As for what the Spanish did, it's what the Spanish did. Emphasis on Spanish. The Catholic Church didn't do those things. As for what Cortes and his people did, only they can answer for their actions, and only they should be held accountable for their actions. The Catholic Church shouldn't be blamed for the personal actions of either Cortes, anybody who was with him, nor any Catholic throughout time for their own personal faults, either. Of course this can, and should be said for others regardless of what their religion is, and that their personal faults are independent of what their religion is.
Do, and have people used their religion for justification of their personal actions when they know that what they're doing is unconscionable? Of course. Always have been, always will be. Once again though, the person and their actions need to be separated from their religion.
I should also point out that there were numerous popes who condemned the unjust enslavement, and mistreatment of Native Americans by the Spanish. It should be mentioned that this also extended to the Portuguese colonials who were just as guilty as the Spanish. However, both groups, by the availability of their free will, ignored what the popes who wrote these condemnations were trying to prevent them from further perpetuating.
Another thing that needs to be said is that the Catholic missionaries to the New World, such as the Jesuits, did all they could to alleviate the suffering endured by the Native population.
Pope Benedict XIV on December 22, 1741 wrote a papal bull called Immensa Pastorum Principis. In it, he made an outright condemnation against the enslavement of Native Americans as the Spanish did, or any other indigenous groups in the world by anybody. It wasn't a new thing to condemn slavery in Catholicism by 1741. It was the continuing proclamation of a strong opposition to slavery.
Didn't mean to go on for so long, however I have a hard time when I see/hear/read half-truth, or blatantly inaccurate historical charges.