Apostolic Letter-[Bull.]

OF OUR MOST HOLY LORD

GREGORY,

BY DIVINE PROVIDENCE,

XVI. POPE (of that name,)

RELATIVE TO REFRAINING FROM TRAFFIC IN BLACKS.

(ARMS.)

ROME-PRINTED AT THE URBAN COLLEGE. 1840.

Gregory XVI. of the Popes (of that name.)

For the further remembrance of the Case

Placed at the supreme head of the Apostolate, and, although with no merits of our own contributing thereto, acting as Vicegerent of Jesus Christ, the Son of God, who, in consequence of his very great love for us, having been made man, deigned to die also for the redemption of the world, we think it falls within the sphere of our pastoral care, that we strive by every means in our power to turn away the faithful from the inhuman traffic in blacks, or in any class of men whatsoever. It is true, when the light of the gospel began first to be diffused, those wretched beings, who at that time were falling in so great numbers into the cruelest servitude, by reason true of wars then prevailing, felt their condition to be most alleviated with Christian masters. For, inspired by the Holy Spirit, the Apostles taught slaves themselves on the one hand to obey their masters in the flesh, as they would Christ, and to do the will of God from the heart; while, on the other hand they directed masters to treat their slaves kindly, and to render unto them whatsoever is just and fair, and also to forego any threats, well knowing that the Lord of these, as well as of themselves, in the heavens, and that there is with him no respect of persons. (1) Since, however, true love towards all was most strongly recommended every where by the law of the gospel, and since Christ our Lord had declared that he would consider as done, or refused unto himself, whatever kindness and compassion should have been extended or refused to the lowly and the needy, (2) it easily resulted therefrom that Christians not only regarded their slaves, especially if Christians, in the light of brothers, (3) but were also more ready to bestow freedom on those who might deserve it, which Gregory of Nyssa shows was a custom to be done on the celebration in particular of the Paschal Rites. (4) Nor were there wanting those who, animated by a still more ardent love for their species, consigned themselves to bondage in order to free others therefrom, many of whom, that apostolic man, and also predecessor of ours, of most holy memory, Clement I. testifies that he was acquainted with. (5) In process of time, therefore, now that the darkness of heathen superstition has been more fully dissipated, and when the manners of less civilized communities also have been softened down by the gentle influence of faith working through love, things have come at length to such a pass, that for ages back no persons have been held in slavery among very many nations of Christians. There were, it is true, from time to time, we say it to our very great sorrow, some of the very number of the faithful, who, shamefully blinded by the desire of filthy lucre, did not hesitate to reduce to slavery, in widely separated and remote lands, Indians, blacks, or other wretched individuals, or else by establishing and gradually enlarging a traffic in those who had been made captives by others, to countenance the shameful conduct of these last. Many Roman Pontiffs, it is true, of glorious memory, predecessors of ours, did not fail, in accordance with their high office, to censure severely the practices of those men, as injurious to their spiritual safety, and disgraceful to the Christian name; and from which also, they clearly saw that this result would follow, that unbelieving nations should be more and more confirmed in their hatred towards our true religion. The Apostolic Letter of Paul III, given May 29, 1537, under the Fisherman's Seal, (St. Peter's) to the Cardinal Arch-Bishop of Toledo, has this same object in view; as well as others in succession still further than this same one, given by Urban VIII. on the 22d of April, 1649, to the "collector Jurium,' of the Apostolic Churches in Portugal; in which letter those individuals are very severely censured by name who dared or presumed to reduce to slavery, to sell, to buy, to exchange, or give away the Indians of the East or West, to separate them from their wives and children, to despoil them of their property, to lead and send them away to other places, or in any way to deprive them of their freedom, to retain them in servitude, and also to afford to those pursuing the aforesaid line of conduct, advice, aid, favor and assistance, under any pretext or color whatsoever, or to preach or teach that this was lawful, or to aid in any other way whatever the practices above alluded to, (6) Those decrees of the Pontiffs just mentioned, Benedict XIV. subsequently established and renewed by a new Apostolic Letter to the clergy of Brazil, and of certain other regions, given on the 20th day of December, 1741, in which he strove to arouse the anxious feelings of the priests themselves towards this end. (7) Before this also, another

Predecessor of ours still earlier than these-Pius II. on the Empire of the Portuguese being extended in his time to Guinea, a country of the blacks, gave on the 7th of Oct. 1462, a letter addressed to the Bishop of Rubi, who was about to set out for those parts, in which he not only bestowed upon that prelate full powers for exercising his sacred functions therein, with greater advantage, but, availing himself of this same opportunity, animadverted severely upon those Christians, who were accustomed to drag the Neophytes into slavery. (8) And even in our own times, Pius VII. influenced by the same spirit of religion, and love, as his predecessors, zealously interposed his official influence with those in power, that the traffic in blacks might at length entirely cease among Christians. Those decrees and anxious cares on the part of our predecessors have, with the blessing of God, proved of no little avail in protecting the Indians, and others above mentioned, from the cruelty of invaders and from the cupidity of Christian traders. Not to such an extent, however, that this Holy See can congratulate itself on the full success of its zealous efforts for the accomplishment of this end; seeing that the trade is still carried on by numerous Christians.

We, therefore, desiring to remove so great a disgrace as this from all the borders of Christendom, and the whole subject being maturely weighed, (some of our venerable brethren the cardinals of the holy Roman Church being also admitted to our council) do hereby, treading in the footsteps of our Apostolic Authority, admonish and earnestly adjure in the Lord all faithful Christians of every condition, that no one of them dare for the time to come, to harass unjustly Indians, blacks, or any other persons of this class, or to despoil them of their property, or to reduce them to slavery, or to lend aid or favor to others while doing such things towards them, or to exercise in that inhuman traffic, by means of which the blacks, as if they were not human beings, but the merest animals in whatever way reduced to slavery, are without any distinction, in violation of the laws of justice and humanity, bought sold, and sometimes condemned to the endurance of the most painful labors, and by which, moreover, through the hope of gain, that originally offered itself to the owners of slaves, by means of this same traffic, dissensions also and perpetual hostilities are as it were continually nurtured in the countries of those unfortunate men.

We, then, by virtue of our apostolic authority censure all the aforesaid practices as unworthy of the christian name, and by that same authority we strictly prohibit and interdict any ecclesiastic or layman from presuming to uphold, under any pretext or color whatsoever, that same traffic in blacks as if it were lawful in its nature, or otherwise to preach [prædicare] or in any way whatsoever publicly or privately to teach [docere] in opposition to those things which we have made the subject of admonition in this our apostolic letter.

In order, moreover, that this same letter [bull] of ours may the more easily become known unto all, and that no one may allege an ignorance of it, we decree and command it to be promulgated according to custom by one of our messengers at the gates of the church of the first of the apostles [St. Peter's] and of the apostolic chancellory [chancellery], as also at those of the Palace on the Monte Ciratorio, and in the Campo Di Fiore; and copies of the same to be left affixed in those same places.

Given at Rome, at the Church of St. Maria Maggiore, under the Fisherman's Seal, on the 3d day of December, 1839, in the 9th year of our Pontificate.

ALOISE LAMBRUCHINI, Cardinal.