The Church and Slavery through the Ages

One of the most erroneous claims I have heard about the Catholic Church is that it accepted slavery. This is a blatant lie. In 1435, Pope Eugene IV officially condemned the enslavement of the black natives of the Canary Islands. He decreed that all European masters were to free the enslaved within 15 days or face excommunication - the highest penalty of the Church (Sicut Dudum). In that papal bull, the Holy Father stated:

"They have deprived the natives of their property or turned it to their own use, and have subjected some of the inhabitants of said islands to perpetual slavery (subdiderunt perpetuae servituti), sold them to other persons and committed other various illicit and evil deeds against them.... Therefore We ... exhort, through the sprinkling of the Blood of Jesus Christ shed for their sins, one and all, temporal princes, lords, captains, armed men, barons, soldiers, nobles, communities and all others of every kind among the Christian faithful of whatever state, grade or condition, that they themselves desist from the aforementioned deeds, cause those subject to them to desist from them, and restrain them rigorously. And no less do We order and command all and each of the faithful of each sex that, within the space of fifteen days of the publication of these letters in the place where they live, that they restore to their pristine liberty all and each person of either sex who were once residents of said Canary Islands ... who have been made subject to slavery (servituti subicere). These people are to be totally and perpetually free and are to be let go without the exaction or reception of any money."

In 1537, Pope Paul III attributed the slavery of the West Indian and South American natives to Satan in Sublimis Deus (June 2, 1537). Further condemnations emerged under Popes Gregory XIV (1591), Urban VIII (Commissum Nobis, 1639), Innocent XI (1686), Benedict XIV (Immensa Pastorum, 1741), and Pius VII (1815).

Pope Gregory XVI wrote:

"We, by apostolic authority, warn and strongly exhort... that no one in the future dare to bother unjustly, despoil of their possessions, or reduce to slavery Indians, Blacks or other such peoples... We prohibit and strictly forbid any Ecclesiastic or lay person from presuming to defend as permissible this trade in Blacks under no matter what pretext or excuse, or from publishing or teaching in any manner whatsoever, in public or privately, opinions contrary to what We have set forth in these Apostolic Letters" (In Supremo Apostolatus, 1839).

Pope Leo XIII writes, "In the presence of so much suffering, the condition of slavery, in which a considerable part of the great human family has been sunk in squalor and affliction now for many centuries, is deeply to be deplored; for the system is one which is wholly opposed to that which was originally ordained by God and by nature" (On the Abolition of Slavery, 1888)

Even the Second Vatican Council, despite its errors in many other matters, did also condemn slavery in Gaudeum et Spes.

So, if you ever read that the Catholic Church supported slavery, that is plainly wrong.

Read more >>

Assumption Novena: Day Eight

Mary, Queen Assumed into Heaven, we rejoice at your title as Queen of Heaven and Earth. You have given your holy fiat to God and became the Mother of our Savior. Obtain peace and salvation for us through your prayers, for you have given birth to Christ our Lord, the Savior of all mankind. Intercede for us and bring our petitions before the Throne of God (mention your request). Through your prayers, may our souls be filled with an intense desire to be like you, a humble vessel of the Holy Spirit and a servant of the Almighty God. Pray for us O Queen Assumed into Heaven, that we may be made worthy of the promises of Christ. Amen.

Read more >>

"Catechism on Hope" by St. John Vianney

My children, we are going to speak of hope: that is what makes the happiness of man on earth. Some people in this world hope too much, and others do not hope enough. Some say, "I am going to commit this sin again. It will not cost me more to confess four than three. " It is like a child saying to his father, "I am going to give you four blows; it will cost me no more than to give you one: I shall only have to ask your pardon. "

That is the way men behave towards the good God. They say, "This year I shall amuse myself again; I shall go to dances and to the alehouse, and next year I will be converted. The good God will be sure to receive me, when I choose to return to Him. He is not so cruel as the priests tell us. " No, the good God is not cruel, but He is just. Do you think He will adapt Himself in everything to your will? Do you think that He will embrace you, after you have despised Him all your life? Oh no, indeed! There is a certain measure of grace and of sin after which God withdraws Himself. What would you say of a father who should treat a good child, and one not so good the same. Would you not say that the father is not just. Well! God would not be just if He made no difference between those who serve Him and those who offend Him.

My children, there is so little faith now in the world that people either hope too much, or they despair. Some say, "I have done too much evil; the good God cannot pardon me:' My children, this is a great blasphemy; it is putting a limit to the mercy of God, which has no limit -- it is infinite. You may have done evil enough to lose the souls of a whole parish, and if you confess, if you are sorry for having done this evil, and resolve not to do it again, the good God will have pardoned you.

A priest was once preaching on hope, and on ; the mercy of the good God. He reassured others, but he himself despaired. After the sermon, a young man presented himself, saying, "Father, I am come to confess to you:' The priest answered, "I am willing to hear your confession:' The other recounted his sins, after which he added, "Father, I have done much evil; I am lost!" "What do you say, my friend! We must never despair:' The young man rose, saying, "Father, you wish me not to despair, and what do you do?" This was a ray of light; the priest, all astonishment, drove away that thought of despair, became a religious and a great saint. . . . The good God had sent him an angel under the form of a young man, to show him that we must never despair. The good God is as prompt to grant us pardon when we ask it of Him as a mother is to snatch her child out of the fire.

Read more on St. John Vianney

Read more >>

Advice from St. Padre Pio

Always be faithful to God in observing the promises you made Him, and pay no attention to the mocking of the foolish. Know that the Saints were always mocked by the world and the worldly, but even so they placed the world and its maxims under their feet.

The field of battle between God and Satan is the human soul. This is where it takes place every moment of our lives. The soul must give free access to our Lord and be completely fortified by Him with every kind of weapon; His light must illuminate it to fight the darkness of error; he must put on Jesus Christ, His truth and justice, the shield of faith, the word of God to overcome such powerful enemies. To put on Jesus Christ we must die to ourselves.

Read more >>

Assumption Novena: Day Seven

Mary, Queen of every heart, accept all that we are and bind us to you with the bonds of love, that we may be yours forever and may be able to say in all truth: “I belong to Jesus through Mary”. Our Mother, Assumed into Heaven and Queen of the Universe, ever-Virgin Mother of God, obtain for us what we ask for if it be for the glory of God and the good of our souls (mention your request). Our Mother, assumed into Heaven, we love you. Give us a greater love for Jesus and for you. Queen Assumed into Heaven, pray for us.

Read more >>

Pope St. Telesphorus

1954 Calendar (Commemoration): January 5

Pope St. Telephrous was pope from c. 127 - c. 137 AD. His feastday is commemorated on January 5th, the Vigil of the Epiphany. 

According to Tradition, Pope St. Telephorus established the 7-week lenten season that precedes the celebration of Easter. He also was the first pope to establish the Christmas midnight Mass. He made the Gloria part of the liturgy; however, the Gloria was only to be sung on Christmas.

Pope St. Telephorus is probably best known, though, for stating that Easter should always be celebrated on a Sunday. Before this point, Easter was celebrated three days after Passover and did not necessarily fall on a Sunday. However, since Jesus rose from the dead on Sunday, he decreed that Easter should always be celebrated on a Sunday.

He was martyred for the faith in 136, possibly for the many conversions attributed to his preaching.

Collect:

Sanctify, O Lord, the offerings consecrated to thee: and being appeased thereby, mercifully look upon us, by the intercession of blessed Telesphorus, thy Martyr and Bishop.

Read more >>

"On Anger" by St. John Vianney

Anger is an emotion of the soul, which leads us violently to repel whatever hurts or displeases us.

This emotion, my children, comes from the devil: it shows that we are in his hands; that he is the master of our heart; that he holds all the strings of it, and makes us dance as he pleases. See, a person who puts himself in a passion is like a puppet; he knows neither what he says, nor what he does; the devil guides him entirely. He strikes right and left; his hair stands up like the bristles of a hedgehog; his eyes start out of his head--he is a scorpion, a furious lion. . . . Why do we, my children, put ourselves into such a state? Is it not pitiable? It is, mind, because we do not love the good God. Our heart is given up to the demon of pride, who is angry when he thinks himself despised; to the demon of avarice, who is irritated when he suffers any loss; I to the demon of luxury, who is indignant when his pleasures are interfered with. . . . How unhappy we are, my children, thus to be the sport of demons? They do whatever they please with us; they suggest to us evil-speaking, calumny, hatred, vengeance: they even drive us so far as to put our neighbour to death. See, Cain killed his brother Abel out of jealousy; Saul wished to take away the life of David; Theodosius caused the massacre of the inhabitants of Thessalonica, to revenge a personal affront. . . . If we do not put our neighbour to death, we are angry with him, we curse him, we give him to the devil, we wish for his death, we wish for our own.

In our fury, we blaspheme the holy Name of God, we accuse His Providence. . . . What fury, what impiety! And what is still more deplorable, my children, we are carried to these excesses for a trifle, for a word, for the least injustice! Where is our faith! Where is our reason? We say in excuse that it is anger that makes us swear; but one sin cannot excuse another sin. The good God equally condemns anger, and the excesses that are its consequences. . . . How we sadden our guardian angel! He is always there at our side to send us good thoughts, and he sees us do nothing but evil. . . . If we did like Saint Remigius, we should never be angry. See, this saint, being questioned by a Father of the desert how he managed to be always in an even temper, replied, "I often consider that my guardian angel is always by my side, who assists me in all my needs, who tells me what I ought to do and what I ought to say, and who writes down, after each of my actions, the way in which I have done it. "

Philip II, King of Spain, having passed several hours of the night in writing a long letter to the Pope, gave it to his secretary to fold up and seal. He, being half asleep, made a mistake; when he meant to put sand on the letter, he took the ink bottle and covered all the paper with ink. While he was ashamed and inconsolable, the king said, quite calmly, "No very great harm is done; there is another sheet of paper"; and he took it, and employed the rest of the night in writing a second letter, without showing the least displeasure with his secretary.

Read more on St. John Vianney

Read more >>

Pope St. Sixtus I

Pope St. Sixtus (also spelled Xystus) I was the seventh pope of the Holy Catholic Church from c. 119 - c. 127 AD. He was born in Rome. According to the Liber Pontificalis , he passed the following three ordinances:

1. No one except the sacred ministers are allowed to touch the sacred vessels (chalice, paten, etc)
2. Bishops who have been summoned to the Holy See shall, upon their return, not be received by their diocese except on presenting Apostolic letters;
3. After the Preface in the Mass the priest shall recite the Sanctus with the people.

He is said to have been a martyr, and his feastday is April 6th. He was buried beside the tomb of St. Peter; however, his relics were apparently transferred to Alatri in 1132. He is not the Sixtus mentioned in the Canon of the Mass (Eucharistic Prayer) - that is Pope St. Sixtus II.

Read more >>

Announcement on my Blog

During the past few weeks I have been praying the Divine Office at Lauds, Vespers, and usually Compline. It has been such a wonderful experience. If you do not pray the Divine Office (Liturgy of the Hours) I highly suggest you purchase a prayer book. It will reward your prayer life immensely.

At the end of this month I will have to blog less as I will be given a lot more work to do. So, for the following months I will not be posting anywhere nearly as much as I currently do. I hope to post once a day starting at the end of this month. During this month and last I was able not only to post a lot but to edit many of my older posts. Under Apologetics and Prayer, I added and edited many of the links. Just today I added beautiful images to my posts on All Saints Day and All Souls Day. So, I've been very busy editing.

I wanted to point out several recent blogs added to my sidebar. Please check them out. The most recent addition is This Catholic Journey, by someone that is starting RCIA very shortly.

• This Catholic Journey
• Kyrie Eleison
• Letters from a Young Catholic
• Epiphany of Faith
• Christ the Center of Your Life
  

Read more >>

Galileo and the Catholic Church

St. Robert Bellarmine as well as Pope Urban VIII, welcomed Galileo’s research and even presented him with medals and gifts. They wholeheartedly welcomed his hypothesis; however, when Galileo began to promote it as truth without providing concrete evidence, trouble arose with the Catholic Church. The notion that the Church censured Galileo because he taught heliocentricism (the revolution of the earth around the sun) is false. He was censured because he advanced a theory as fact without providing scientific proof. It was not until later that sufficient proof was provided in order to justify his theory.

Even if the Church did make a mistake with science, it does not alter any part of our Faith. The Pope is only infallible in matters of morals and ethics, not science or math as the First Vatican Council explicitly declared. The Catholic Church is never opposed to science. Science can help us understand better both God the Creator and the created world, a world our God created out of nothingness.

There are many who likewise fail to understand what the Church truly teaches about evolution.

Read more >>