Online Public Relations Thoughts

The Vatican has formally rejected the Discovery Doctrine that justified conquering and enslaving indigenous peoples in Latin America and elsewhere.  It was about time.  The doctrine had been promulgated in three Papal Bulls in the 15th Century.  The abrogation was in response to long-time requests and protests from indigenous peoples in the Americas.  It followed on the heels of a formal apology from the Pope to the tribes in Canada that had their children forcibly taken away to be educated in schools that would "civilize" them.  It is one more example of a more powerful group dominating a weaker one -- a dynamic the Vatican has condemned for some time but never got around to acknowledging its past errors.  It has now done so in a move that could be painted as an empty communications gesture because the enslavement of indigenous peoples happened so long ago.