THE existence and – albeit regrettable – permissibility of slavery was acknowledged throughout Christian history and by most Christian authors until the fifteenth century.  Most notably, Saint Thomas Aquinas in his Summa Theologiae accepted the existence of “natural slavery”: namely, that it may be “useful for a man to be ruled by a wiser man, and for the latter to be helped by the former” (ST II-II, q.57, a.3, arg.2; see also ST II-II, q.189, a.6, arg.2 and I, q.92, a.1, arg.2).  His sources for this include St. Isidore of Seville (Etym. v, 4) and Aristotle (Politics 1.2).  Aquinas acknowledged, however, that “Nothing is so repugnant to human nature as slavery... slavery is more abhorrent to our nature than is death.” (On The Religious State, the Episcopate, and the Priestly Office ch. 10, p45; ch. 14, p79).

IN the fifteenth century the Portuguese voyages of exploration resulted in the enslavement by Christian soldiers of indigenous peoples in the Canary Islands off the coast of Africa.  In 1435 Pope Eugene IV promulgated Sicut Dudum, which required under pain of excommunication that all these slaves be freed and their property restored to them, and that in future no baptized residents of the Canary Islands, or those seeking baptism could be enslaved.

HOWEVER, in 1455 Pope Nicholas V granted to the Portuguese the right to:

“...invade, search out, capture, vanquish, and subdue all Saracens and pagans whatsoever, and other enemies of Christ wheresoever placed...and to reduce their persons to perpetual slavery.” (Romanus Pontifex)

This was interpreted as condoning the ancient practice of reducing to slavery any group or anyone who rebelled against legitimate Christian authority.

IN response to horrifying accounts of the Spanish treatment of indigenous peoples in Mexico, South America, and the Caribbean, Pope Paul III proclaimed in 1537 that the indigenous peoples of America are “truly human” and, whether Christian or pagan, they “may not be in any way enslaved.” (Sublimis Dei)

UNFORTUNATELY, Catholic supporters of slavery noted that Sublimis Dei mentioned only the indigenous peoples of the Americas; and they also claimed that Romanus Pontifex permitted the enslavement of criminals and political rebels.

IN 1839 Pope Gregory XVI condemned both the slave trade as well as the opinion that Africans were not fully human (In Supremo).

HOWEVER, nineteenth-century Catholic slave-owners and their suporters in the American South (including religious communities and several bishops), claimed while In Supremo condemned the slave trade - that is the enslavement and buying and selling of slaves - it did not specifically condemn the ownership of slaves.  In addition, various forms of “indentured servitude” for violations of the law (including, for example drunkenness and disorderly conduct) remained common throughout the nineteenth century.

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