Slavery and the Catholic Church

Slavery and the Catholic Church : 

Slavery and the Catholic Church Christianity and the Bible both condone slavery and racism

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A non-Christian acquaintance tells me that Christianity and the Bible both condone slavery and racism how should I answer him? There are many kinds of slavery so before answering your acquaintance’s question let’s define the different kinds of slavery. First we have the “Chattel Slavery,” the human is treated as a tangible piece of property and is often equated to a “human tool.” As you know tools are not entitled to basic human rights because they are merely objects. Old Testament slaves were not treated as objects, they were treated as property, yet they were given human rights. In all countries of the world people a forced into servitude against their will, we call them criminals who are held in prisons. We also have the indentured servant who sells their own freedom in order to gain something else.

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Many immigrants to America sold themselves into this type of slavery in order to pay for their passage and then to earn enough money to begin their new life in America. Both prisoners and indentured servants just like Biblical slaves retained their human rights. Chattel slaves had no rights. It is claimed that no Pope condemned slavery until 1890. According to one modern “theologian” "...one can search in vain through the interventions of the Holy See - those of Pius V (1566-1572), Urban VIII (1623-1644) and Benedict XIV (1740-58) - for any condemnation of the actual principle of slavery." [Panzer, p. 2] Other people claim that the Church has changed Her teaching on slavery, therefore the Church has change Her teachings on other issues also. A recent book, entitled The Popes and Slavery written by Fr. Joel S. Panzer (Alba House, 1996), shows that the Popes did in fact condemn racial slavery as early as 1435.

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Throughout the history of the Church it has found Herself among cultures who practiced one form of slavery or another. If we open our Bibles to the New Testament Letter to Philemon it would appear that St. Paul tolerates slavery but a careful reading of the entire letter shows that Paul is warning slave masters that they too have a Master in Heaven who would judge them (Eph 6:9; Col. 4:1). No, Paul did not defend slavery any more then he defended the pagan Roman government when he instructed his followers to obey the government despite its injustices (cf. Rom. 13:1-7). In the case of the runaway slave Onesimus, Paul wrote to Philemon, the slave’s master, instructing him to receive Onesimus back “no longer as a slave but more than a slave, a brother” (Philemon 1:16).

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With respect to salvation in Christ, Paul insisted that “there is neither slave nor free . . . you are all one in Christ Jesus” (Gal. 3:27-28). Another Biblical teaching, Love your neighbor as yourself is incompatible with Chattel slavery (Mt. 5:43; 19:19; 22:39; Mk. 13:31; Lk 10:27). Church fathers (such as Gregory of Nyssa (385) and John Chrysostom (347-407) strongly denounced slavery. But the political governments ignored them. Some Christians even sacrificially sold themselves into slavery to free slaves. Many member of the clergy were from slave backgrounds, including two popes (Pius I and Callistus). Three popes-Pope St Victor I (186-198), Pope St Miltiades (311-14), and Pope St Gelasius (492-496)-were Africans Slavery grew during the Renaissance as Europeans encountered Muslim slave traders and the native peoples of the Americas

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The Church has always been politically weak. Don’t forget when the Church began it was outlawed by the Jews first and then the Romans. Up until 313 AD membership in the Church was punishable by death. Just because you are politically weak does not mean you accept all that society recommends or offers. There are many examples of saints buying slaves and then setting them free (e.g. St. Nicholas, Trinitarian Fathers & White Fathers). On the other side of the coin there were Catholics and even clergy, who participated in slavery and that sin was viewed as a disgrace.

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The 13th amendment to the U. S. Constitution brought an end to racial slavery in the United States but did allow servitude as a form of punishment for criminals to remain in place. Also the 1949 Geneva Convention allow for the detaining power to use the labor of war prisoners under very limiting circumstances (Panzer, p. 3). During Biblical times a man could sell himself into slavery in order to pay off his debts (Deut. 15:12-18). But this kind of slave were to be freed on the seventh year or the Jubilee year (Lev. 25:54). The Church tolerated this type of servitude because it is not wrong in itself, though it can be seriously abused. The Popes did, however, consistently oppose racial slavery which completely lacks any moral justification.

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Chattel slavery, also known as racial slavery, began in large-scale during the 15th century and was formally condemned by the Popes as early as 1435, fifty-seven years before Columbus discovered America. In 1404, the Spanish discovered the Canary Islands and enslaved its people while Pope Eugene IV condemned the practice in 1435 and excommunicated anyone who participated in the practice. About 100 years later Spain and Portugal colonized South America and enslaved the Indians. Again , the enslavement of Indians and all other people were condemned by Pope Paul III. The Church and Her Popes continually and consistently condemned chattel slavery. As you can see the claim that the Church didn’t get around to condemning slavery until the 1890s is historically incorrect.

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Your acquaintance’s statement is historically unfounded and thus without merit. Chattel slavery was not endorsed by St. Paul, the Church Father or the Popes. It is also worth noting that slavery was not just a Catholic problem, many religions existed before and many were created after Catholicism yet not all joined the Church the in the condemnation of slavery. For a listing of over 800 Black Saints and their history please visit http://catholic.org/saints/black.php