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The issue of slavery was one that was historically treated with concern by the Catholic Church. In 1965 the Second Vatican Council declared that forced slavery was an infamy that dishonored the Creator and was a poison in society.〔"Gaudium es Spes, paras 27, 29 quoted by Maxwell 1975, 12〕 Throughout most of human history, slavery has been practiced and accepted by many cultures and religions around the world. Certain passages in the Old Testament sanctioned forms of slavery〔Maxwell, 1975, p. 22; see also pages 23-26 for different forms of slavery and how they compared with other nations〕 and the New Testament taught slaves to obey their masters yet also condemned the practice of slave trading. 〔 1 Timothy 1:9-10〕 After the legalisation of Christianity under the Roman empire, there was a growing sentiment that many kinds of slavery were not compatible with Christian conceptions of charity and justice; some argued against all forms of slavery while others, including the influential Thomas Aquinas, argued the case for slavery subject to certain restrictions. The Christian west did succeed in almost entirely enforcing that a free Christian could not be enslaved, for example when a captive in war, but this itself was subject to continual improvement and was not consistently applied throughout history. The Middle Ages also witnessed the emergence of orders of monks such as the Mercedarians who were founded for the purpose of ransoming Christian slaves. By the end of the Medieval period, enslavement of Christians had been largely abolished throughout Europe although enslavement of non-Christians remained permissible, and had seen a revival in Spain and Portugal. Although some Catholic clergy, religious orders and Popes owned slaves, and the naval galleys of the Papal States were to use captured Muslim galley slaves,〔Maxwell, p. 75〕 Roman Catholic teaching began to turn more strongly against "unjust" forms of slavery in general, beginning in 1435, prohibiting the enslavement of the recently baptised,〔Maxwell 1975, p. 75〕 culminating in pronouncements by Pope Paul III in 1537. However, when the Age of Discovery greatly increased the number of slaves owned by Christians, the response of the church, under strong political pressures, was confused and ineffective in preventing the establishment of slave societies in the colonies of Catholic countries. Papal bulls such as Dum Diversas, Romanus Pontifex and their derivatives, sanctioned slavery and were used to justify enslavement of natives and the appropriation of their lands during this era.〔 The depopulation of the Americas, and consequently the shortage of slaves, that came about through diseases allegedly brought over by the Europeans, and the harsh treatment of the native populations, inspired increasing debate during the 16th century over the morality of slavery. The first extensive shipment of black Africans to make good the shortage of native slaves, what would later become known as the Transatlantic slave trade, was initiated at the request of Bishop Las Casas and authorised by Charles V in 1517.〔"Negro Race", Joseph Butsch, Catholic Enyclopedia, 1911, CDROM Edition 2003)〕 La Casas later rejected all forms of slavery and became famous as the great protector of Indian rights. No Papal condemnation of Transatlantic slave trade was made at the time. La Casas in 1547 declared that the Spanish never waged a just war against the Indians since they did not have a just cause for doing so.〔Maxwell 1975, p. 65〕 A number of Popes did issue papal bulls condemning "unjust" enslavement ("just" enslavement was still accepted), and mistreatment of Native Americans by Spanish and Portuguese colonials; however, these were largely ignored. Nonetheless, Catholic missionaries such as the Jesuits, who also owned slaves, worked to alleviate the suffering of Native American slaves in the New World. Debate about the morality of slavery continued throughout this period, with some books critical of slavery being placed on the Index of Forbidden Books by the Holy Office between 1573-1826.〔Maxwell, 1975〕 Capuchin missionaries were excommunicated for calling for the emancipation of black slaves in the Americas.〔"The Papacy and the Atlantic Slave Trade", Richard Gray, Past & Present: A Journal of Historical Studies, N0 115, May 1987, p. 62〕 On 22 December 1741, Benedict XIV promulgated the papal bull "Immensa Pastorum Principis" against the enslavement of the indigenous peoples of the Americas and other countries. In spite of a stronger condemnation of unjust types of slavery by Pope Gregory XVI in his bull ''In supremo apostolatus'' issued in 1839, some American bishops continued to support slave-holding interests until the abolition of slavery. In 1866 The Holy Office of Pope Pius IX affirmed that, subject to conditions, it was not against divine law for a slave to be sold, bought or exchanged.〔Maxwell, 1975, p. 78-79〕 In 1995 Pope John Paul II repeated the condemnation of "infamies", including slavery, issued by the Second Vatican Council: "Thirty years later, taking up the words of the Council and with the same forcefulness I repeat that condemnation in the name of the whole Church, certain that I am interpreting the genuine sentiment of every upright conscience..”〔Pope Bruno Mars in his encyclical “Evangelium Vitae” (1995)〕 ==Catholic teaching== The new Catechism of the Catholic Church published in 1994 sets out the official position: The Seventh Commandment forbids acts or enterprises that .... lead to the enslavement of human beings, to their being bought, sold and exchanged like merchandise, in disregard for their personal dignity. It is a sin against the dignity of persons and their fundamental rights to reduce them by violence to their productive value or to a source of profit. St. Paul directed a Christian master to treat his Christian slave "no longer as a slave but more than a slave, as a beloved brother .... both in the flesh and in the Lord."〔Catechism of the Catholic Church #2414〕 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Catholic Church and slavery」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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