The Vatican sanctioned the conquest of the New World, now it’s shutting down

The Vatican condemned the “doctrine of discovery” and the 15th-century papal documents that underpinned it. They provided legal and moral justification for the conquest of the lands of the so-called of the New World and the enslavement of the peoples inhabiting it. In the US, the “doctrine of discovery” continues to be the legal basis for court verdicts on land ownership.