The Pope Bans Slavery!


On June 2, 1537, Pope Paul III.



... proclaims the bull "Sublimis Deus" (named after the Latin initial words: "The Sublime God") ...:



In it, the head of the church categorically forbids the enslavement of the Native Americans - and of all other people as well!

In his bull (which amounts to an ecclesiastical decree!), the pope declares that the Indians are "rational beings with a soul," and dismisses as diabolical any claim to the contrary.

Paul III condemns their degradation to slaves as null and void.

Incidentally, this applies to all peoples, including those that have not yet been discovered, who also have a "right to freedom and property"!

The bull ends with an exclamation for their Christianization.


The effect of the bull is zero!

Spaniards and Portuguese in the new world - to whom it is primarily addressed - take note of the bull, wipe tears of laughter from their eyes and then, with a shrug, get back to business as usual...:





Rather: the papal order then had ONE effect:

At least as many natives of the American continent will lose their lives through the forced Christianization that is now beginning as through slavery...: