Pope praises Queen Isabella’s response to enslavement of Native Americans
September 20, 2024
» Continue to this story on Vatican Press Office
CWN Editor's Note: In a message for the presentation of a book on transnational justice, Pope Francis said little about the book, but instead reflected on Queen Isabella’s response to the enslavement of Native Americans, praising the response as the “seed of our modern declarations of human rights.”
The Pope addressed his message to King Felipe VI of Spain and other attendees at the book presentation, which took place on the Canary Islands.
“I would like to mention an event that occurred during Columbus’s first voyages to America,” the Pope wrote in the message, dated August 22 and made public on September 19. “I am referring to the news that reached Isabella of Castile about the sale of Indians as slaves.”
“We have a situation of conflict and repression where there has been a massive violation of human rights and, immediately, the set of measures adopted by the Crown, which would be the seed of our modern declarations of human rights,” the Pope said.
He continued:
The force of law, represented in Queen Isabella not only as the political authority of one of the parties, but as the moral conscience of one who knew that she had to give an account of her actions to God, imposes courageous, innovative and firm solutions, which go to the heart of man’s truth, of his dignity, without concessions; reparations—freeing slaves even at one’s own expense—and institutional reform—prohibiting slavery and demanding the fundamental rights of the victims in a proactive and comprehensive manner.
The Pope drew lessons from Queen Isabella’s actions, emphasizing that “history does not go backwards,” that immediate responses to human rights abuses are needed, and that “the effective and concrete application of these dispositions will not always be easy, nor will they be motivated by such a lofty spirit.”
The Pope made his remarks against the backdrop of Queen Isabella’s beatification cause, which is supported by the Spanish bishops and controversial because of her decision to expel Jews from Spain in 1492.
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