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Sajjan_Thug

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  1. Waheguru Ji Thanks for the link the website still works and baba Ji's books and kathas can be downloaded.
  2. Waheguru Ji She also has a youtube channel. You might want to check out. She does simran, katha and questions and answers with the Sangat. This is her telegram link https://t.me/wahegurunaam
  3. Waheguru Ji Does anyone have more information or katha on this story. In the video its mentioned Prof. Sahib Singh wrote this sakhi in his book.
  4. Could there also be a colonized layer With centuries of west colonizing India could it also be the punjabi population is imitating there colonizers. They want to follow there religion, speak there language, adopt there lifestyle, imitate there customs and mannerism. There is hugh craze of punjabis trying to imitate the western world. Could this be the trauma of colonialism.
  5. There's also a foreign layer Huge funds are flowing in from various Christian missions based in Western countries like USA, Canada and UK. The religious conversion drive is being carried out by Christian missionaries in Punjab with funds arriving from foreign countries. It is believed that over Rs. 10,000 crores in foreign contributions come to India every year. This huge amount is mostly for Christian missionary activities. Gospel for Asia (GFA), which is an Oriental Orthodox Christian Mission based in Texas, USA, had donated about Rs. 600 crores for various church movements in India. GFA regularly seeks donations from Americans for the church programs in India. This basically means getting new converts. One of its brochures says: “India’s over one billion people are … responding to Jesus in record numbers…”
  6. Dass, is talking in a very particular narrow context. When our sant/babas are talking about other faiths they seem to think everyone believes the same thing. Not knowing that Abrahamic religions are exclusive, in that they believe only there religion is true and other religions lead to hell. Our sant/babas ignore the fact that other religions see us as going to hell. Then why are they saying we all believe the same thing. Dass, would like to know why they are saying this.
  7. Puratan sampradays are vitally important as they can lead the Sangat in the right direction. Progress will be slow at a individual level. The sampradays collectively can make a big difference. 100% agree. The sewa society videos you posted, where people see with there own eyes what is happening is changing peoples mind for the better. You can see how impacted people are when they see with own eyes.
  8. The root problem is that our Sant/babas have intellectually disarmed us by saying every path leads to Waheguru, everything is true. Our sant/babas don't know enough about the Abrahamic religions to make that kind of judgment. Its due to their ignorance that we are being taken advantage of.
  9. Don't forget dass already posted a video of missionaries trying to convert Sikhs INSIDE Darbar Sahib. You also might find this interesting. 4th largest church in the world is in Punjab with 118,000 members. Punjab witnessed 600% growth in conversions – 1800 new churches!
  10. Are puratan sampradays aware of this and what are they doing about this?
  11. Is this a Udasi Samprada Gurdwara? Do you have pictures from inside the Gurdwara or close up of Nishan Sahib? Also, you visit many interesting places is there anyway you can record video of these places and upload them to youtube, for the benefit of Sangat who can't visit these places. Waheguru Ji
  12. This video shows Christian missionary boasting that everyday 14,000 Indians are converted to christianity by his church. He said his group converted over 1,060,000 indians every year. He boasts that he has 25,000 missionary who are converting people everyday in India. See the video
  13. Video showing Sikh and Hindu children forced to attend church. A pathway to convert them.
  14. Waheguru Ji ਕਲੇਸ is used in Sukhman Sahib ਸਿਮਰਉ ਸਿਮਰਿ ਸਿਮਰਿ ਸੁਖੁ ਪਾਵਉ ॥ Meditate, meditate, meditate in remembrance of Him, and find peace. ਕਲਿ ਕਲੇਸ ਤਨ ਮਾਹਿ ਮਿਟਾਵਉ ॥ Worry and anguish shall be dispelled from your body. Mahan Kosh Encyclopedia ਸੰ. ਕ੍‌ਲੇਸ਼. ਨਾਮ/n. ਦੁੱਖ। 2. ਝਗੜਾ। 3. ਫ਼ਿਕਰ. ਚਿੰਤਾ। 4. ਕ੍ਰੋਧ। 5. ਵਿਦ੍ਵਾਨਾਂ ਨੇ ਪੰਜ ਕ੍‌ਲੇਸ਼ ਸੰਸਕ੍ਰਿਤਗ੍ਰੰਥਾਂ ਵਿੱਚ ਲਿਖੇ ਹਨ.{578} ੳ- ਅਵਿਦ੍ਯਾ, ਅਸਲੀਯਤ ਨਾ ਸਮਝਣੀ. ਉਲਟੀ ਸਮਝ. ਅ- ਅਸਿ੍ਮਿਤਾ, ਦੇਹ ਧਨ ਸੰਬੰਧੀ ਆਦਿਕਾਂ ਵਿੱਚ ਅਹੰਤਾ (ਮਮਤ੍ਵ). ੲ- ਰਾਗ, ਪਦਾਰਥਾਂ ਵਿੱਚ ਪ੍ਰੇਮ. ਸ- ਦ੍ਵੇਸ਼, ਵੈਰ ਵਿਰੋਧ. ਹ- ਅਭਿਨਿਵੇਸ਼, ਨਾ ਕਰਨ ਯੋਗ੍ਯ ਕਰਮਾਂ ਨੂੰ ਜਾਣਕੇ ਭੀ ਹਠ ਨਾਲ ਉਨ੍ਹਾਂ ਵਿੱਚ ਮਨ ਲਾਉਣਾ ਅਤੇ ਮੌਤ (ਮਰਣ) ਤੋਂ ਡਰਨਾ.
  15. Inverted temple in India One of a kind temple in the world
  16. Waheguru Ji Do you have any plans to take pictures of all the pages? Who knows what might happen to the manuscript. It's better if we take pictures now to have it preserved?
  17. Waheguru Ji Do you have any pictures of this Gurdwara? Also, do you have any other gurdwaras near you and any pictures of them?
  18. Muslim Students Harass Hindu Classmates in UK; Force Them to Convert to Islam: Report By IANS On 4/19/23 Hindu students in the UK are targets of bullying and racial discrimination in classrooms with Muslim pupils telling them to change their religion to make their lives easier, according to a London-based think tank. The Telegraph reported quoting a study by the Henry Jackson Society that Muslim pupils called for Hindus to convert or face "threats of hell for disbelievers" using terms such as "kaffir". Half of Hindu parents surveyed reported that their child had experienced anti-Hindu hate in schools, while less than 1 per cent of schools surveyed reported any anti-Hindu related incidents in the last five years. Numerous Instances The survey, covering 988 Hindu parents and more than 1,000 schools around the country, found that there were "numerous instances of derogatory references made towards Hindus, such as mocking their vegetarianism and belittling their deities, which were also made by Islamist extremists rallying against the Hindu community in Leicester. "In one instance, a female Hindu pupil had beef thrown at her, and a male student was reported to have to change East London schools three times on account of anti-Hindu bullying. Eight physical assaults were detailed," the study said. In one example a child "was harassed and told that if they convert to Islam, their life will become so much easier" and another was told: "You aren't going to survive very long... If you want to go to paradise, you'll have to come to Islam... Hindus are the herbivores at the bottom of the food chain, we will eat you up." Another parent said children were told to watch videos of an Islamic preacher and to "convert because Hinduism makes no sense", The Telegraph reported. According to the think tank, religious education was "fostering discrimination" against Hindus with inappropriate references to the Indian caste system and misconceptions over the worship of deities which students felt made "a mockery of them". It was found that only 15 per cent of parents surveyed believed schools adequately address anti-Hindu related incidents. Ben Everitt, Conservative MP for Milton Keynes, told The Telegraph that the findings were "damning" and called for urgent improvements to religious education. "The findings in this report are damning and shed light on the varying themes and forms which anti-Hindu discrimination materialises in the classroom," he said. Source: https://www.ibtimes.sg/muslim-students-harass-hindu-classmates-uk-forces-them-convert-islam-report-69911
  19. Interesting ancient Indian temple. This channel is full of ancient temples people barely know about.
  20. Waheguru Ji As we start meditating longer and longer, repeating the gurmantar Waheguru, the mind will gradually let go of its distractions and restlessness, and gather in to stay with the gurmantar. It will stay firm, with Waheguru its sole preoc cupation, until you see that the state of mind saying Waheguru is identical with the mind itself at all times, regardless of whether you re sitting, standing, walking, or lying down. No matter what your activity, you'll see the mind bright and clear with Waheguru. Once you've reached this stage, keep the mind there as long as you can. Don't be in a hurry to want to see this or be that because desire is the most serious obstacle to the concentrated mind. Once desire arises, your concentration will immediately deteriorate, because the basis of your concentration/dhyan isn't solid. When this happens, you can t grab hold of any foundation at all, and you get really upset. All you can think of is the state of concentration/dhyan in which you used to be calm and happy, and this makes the mind even more agitated. Practice simran the same way farmers grow rice. They re in no hurry. They scatter the seed, plow, harrow, plant the seedlings, step by step, without skipping any of the steps. Then they wait for the plants to grow. Even when they don t yet see the rice appearing, they're confident that the rice is sure to appear some day in the future. Once the rice appears, they're convinced that they re sure to reap results. They don't pull on the rice plants to make them come out with rice when they want it. Anyone who did that would end up with no results at all. ਮਨੁ ਹਾਲੀ ਕਿਰਸਾਣੀ ਕਰਣੀ ਸਰਮੁ ਪਾਣੀ ਤਨੁ ਖੇਤੁ ॥ Make your mind the farmer, good deeds the farm, modesty the water, and your body the field. ਨਾਮੁ ਬੀਜੁ ਸੰਤੋਖੁ ਸੁਹਾਗਾ ਰਖੁ ਗਰੀਬੀ ਵੇਸੁ ॥ Let the Lord's Name be the seed, contentment the plow, and your humble dress the fence. ਭਾਉ ਕਰਮ ਕਰਿ ਜੰਮਸੀ ਸੇ ਘਰ ਭਾਗਠ ਦੇਖੁ ॥੧॥ Doing deeds of love, the seed shall sprout, and you shall see your home flourish. ||1|| 595
  21. India archive reveals extent of ‘colonial loot’ in royal jewellery collection File from India Office archive details how priceless items were extracted from colony as trophies of conquest by David Pegg and Manisha Ganguly Thu 6 Apr 2023 Charles’s 70th birthday with a display of his favourite pieces from the royal collection, Britain’s official trove of items connected to the monarchy. “The prince had a very, very strong hand in the selection,” the senior curator said. Among the sculptures, paintings and other exhibits was a long gold girdle inlaid with 19 large emeralds once used by an Indian maharajah to decorate his horses. It was a curious choice to put into the exhibition in light of the violent means by which it had come into the hands of the royal family. Emerald girdle of Maharaja Sher Singh, c 1840. Photograph: Royal Collection Trust / © His Majesty King Charles III 2023 As part of its Cost of the crown series, the Guardian has uncovered a remarkable 46-page file in the archives of the India Office, the government department that was responsible for Britain’s rule over the Indian subcontinent. It details an investigation, apparently commissioned by Queen Mary, the grandmother of Elizabeth II, into the imperial origins of her jewels. The report, from 1912, explains how priceless pieces, including Charles’s emerald belt, were extracted from India as trophies of conquest and later given to Queen Victoria. The items described are now owned by the monarch as property of the British crown. Plundered stones To fully understand the context behind the jewels, and their place in India’s history, it was necessary to visit the archives. A journal records a tour in 1837 of the Punjab area in north India by the society diarist Fanny Eden and her brother George, the governor general of the British Raj at the time. They visited Ranjit Singh, the maharajah in Lahore, who had signed a “treaty of friendship” with the British six years earlier. The half-blind Singh wore few if any precious stones, Eden wrote in her journal, but his entourage was positively drowning in them. So plentiful were the maharajah’s gems that “he puts his very finest jewels on his horses, and the splendour of their harness and housings surpasses anything you can imagine,” she wrote. Eden later confided in her journal: “If ever we are allowed to plunder this kingdom, I shall go straight to their stables.” Twelve years later, Singh’s youngest son and heir, Duleep, was forced to sign over the Punjab to the conquering forces of the British East India Company. As part of the conquest, the company did indeed plunder the horses’ emeralds, as well as Singh’s most precious stone, the legendary Koh-i-noor diamond. Today, the Koh-i-noor sits in the crown of Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother, on display at the Tower of London, and it has become an emblem of Britain’s tortured relationship with its imperial history. Anita Anand, a journalist and historian who co-wrote a book titled Koh-i-noor on the diamond, said it was “a beautiful and cold reminder of British supremacy during the Raj”, the period between 1858 and 1947 when India was ruled by the crown. “Its facets reflect the fate of a boy king who was separated from his mother,” Anand said. The stone too was “taken far away from his home, recut and diminished”. Anand said: “That is not how India sees itself today.” Buckingham Palace is plainly aware of the sensitivities surrounding looted artefacts. After the Indian government let it be known that for Camilla, the Queen Consort, to wear the Koh-i-noor at Charles’s coronation would elicit “painful memories of the colonial past”, the palace announced she would swap it for a less contentious diamond. But, as was discovered by Queen Mary, the Koh-i-noor was not the only gem taken from Singh’s treasury to have found its way to the British monarchy Royal with a pearl necklace Among the jewels identified in the document found by the Guardian is a “short necklace of four very large spinel rubies”, the largest of which is a 325.5-carat spinel that later came to be identified as the Timur ruby. Its famous name is erroneous: research by the academic Susan Stronge in 1996 concluded it was probably never owned by Timur, a Mongol conquerer. And it is a spinel, a red stone similar to, but chemically distinct from, a ruby. Elizabeth II was shown handling it in the 1969 BBC documentary Royal Family, and was clearly acquainted with the myths surrounding it. “The history, of course, is very fascinating. It belonged to so many kings of Persia and Mughal emperors, until Queen Victoria was sent it from India,” she observed. The queen was never pictured wearing the item. However, she may have worn another of the Lahore treasures, identified in the India Office report as “a pearl necklace consisting of 224 large pearls”. In her 1987 study of royal jewellery, Leslie Field described “one of the Queen Mother’s most impressive two-row pearl necklaces … made from 222 pearls with a clasp of two magnificent rubies surrounded by diamonds that had originally belonged to the ruler of the Punjab” – almost certainly a reference to the same necklace. In 2012, Elizabeth II attended a gala festival at the Royal Opera House in London to celebrate her diamond jubilee. Photographs showed her wearing a multi-string pearl necklace with a ruby clasp. Were these Ranjit Singh’s pearls? There was speculation they may have been, though Buckingham Palace was unable to confirm either way. Queen Mary’s interest appears to have been prompted by curiosity about the origin of some of her pearls rather than any moral concern about the manner in which they were obtained. But a Buckingham Palace spokesperson said slavery and colonialism were matters that “his Majesty takes profoundly seriously”. Shashi Tharoor, formerly an undersecretary at the United Nations, and currently an MP in India, said: “We have finally entered an era where colonial loot and pillage is being recognised for what it really was, rather than being dressed up as the incidental spoils of some noble ‘civilising mission’. “As we are seeing increasingly, the return of stolen property is always a good thing. Generations to come will wonder why it took civilised nations so long to do the right thing.” Source: https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2023/apr/06/indian-archive-reveals-extent-of-colonial-loot-in-royal-jewellery-collection
  22. Vatican rejects doctrine that fueled centuries of colonialism By NICOLE WINFIELD March 30, 2023 VATICAN CITY (AP) — The Vatican on Thursday responded to Indigenous demands and formally repudiated the “Doctrine of Discovery,” the theories backed by 15th-century “papal bulls” that legitimized the colonial-era seizure of Native lands and form the basis of some property laws today. A Vatican statement said the papal bulls, or decrees, “did not adequately reflect the equal dignity and rights of Indigenous peoples” and have never been considered expressions of the Catholic faith. The statement, from the Vatican’s development and education offices, marked a historic recognition of the Vatican’s own complicity in colonial-era abuses committed by European powers. It was issued under history’s first Latin American pontiff, who was hospitalized Thursday with a respiratory infection, exactly one year after Francis met at the Vatican with Indigenous leaders from Canada who raised the issue. On Thursday, these Indigenous leaders welcomed the statement as a first good step, even though it didn’t address the rescinding of the bulls themselves and continued to take distance from acknowledging actual Vatican culpability in abuses. The statement said the papal documents had been “manipulated” for political purposes by competing colonial powers “to justify immoral acts against Indigenous peoples that were carried out, at times, without opposition from ecclesial authorities.” It said it was right to “recognize these errors,” acknowledge the terrible effects of colonial-era assimilation policies on Indigenous peoples and ask for their forgiveness. The statement was a response to decades of Indigenous demands for the Vatican to formally rescind the papal bulls that provided the Portuguese and Spanish kingdoms the religious backing to expand their territories in Africa and the Americas for the sake of spreading Christianity. Those decrees underpin the “Doctrine of Discovery,” a legal concept coined in a 1823 U.S. Supreme Court decision that has come to be understood as meaning that ownership and sovereignty over land passed to Europeans because they “discovered” it. It was cited as recently as a 2005 Supreme Court decision involving the Oneida Indian Nation written by the late Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg. During Pope Francis’ 2022 visit to Canada, where he apologized to Indigenous peoples for the residential school system that forcibly removed Native children from their homes, he was met with demands for a formal repudiation of the papal bulls. Two Indigenous women unfurled a banner at the altar of the National Shrine of Sainte-Anne-de-Beaupré on July 29 that read: “Rescind the Doctrine” in bright red and black letters. Before that, Michelle Schenandoah of the Oneida Nation had called for the Vatican to rescind the papal bulls when she delivered the closing remarks of the First Nations delegation that met with Francis during a weeklong visit last year by Native groups from Canada. On Thursday, she called the Vatican statement “another step in the right direction,” but noted that it didn’t mention the rescinding of the bulls themselves. “I think what this does is it really puts the responsibility on nation states such as the United States, to look at its use of the Doctrine of Discovery,” she said in a interview from Syracuse, New York, where she is a professor of Indigenous law at Syracuse University’s College of Law. “This goes beyond land. It really has created generation upon generation of genocidal policies directed towards Indigenous peoples. And I think that it’s time for these governments to take full accountability for their actions.” In the statement, the Vatican said: “The Catholic Church therefore repudiates those concepts that fail to recognize the inherent human rights of Indigenous peoples, including what has become known as the legal and political ‘doctrine of discovery.’” Phil Fontaine, a former national chief of the Assembly of First Nations in Canada who was also part of the First Nations delegation that met with Francis at the Vatican, said the statement was “wonderful,” resolved an outstanding issue and now puts the matter to civil authorities to revise property laws that cite the doctrine. “The church has done one thing, as it said it would do, for the Holy Father. Now the ball is in the court of governments, the United States and in Canada, but particularly in the United States where the doctrine is embedded in the law,” he told The Associated Press. The Vatican offered no evidence that the three papal bulls (Dum Diversas in 1452, Romanus Pontifex in 1455 and Inter Caetera in 1493) had themselves been formally abrogated, rescinded or rejected, as Vatican officials have often said. But it cited a subsequent bull, Sublimis Deus in 1537, that reaffirmed that Indigenous peoples shouldn’t be deprived of their liberty or the possession of their property, and were not to be enslaved. Cardinal Michael Czerny, the Canadian Jesuit whose office co-authored the statement, stressed that the original bulls had long ago been abrogated and that the use of the term “doctrine” — which in this case is a legal term, not a religious one — had led to centuries of confusion about the church’s role. The original bulls, he said, “are being treated as if they were teaching, magisterial or doctrinal documents, and they are an ad hoc political move. And I think to solemnly repudiate an ad hoc political move is to generate more confusion than clarity.” He stressed that the statement wasn’t just about setting the historical record straight, but “to discover, identify, analyze and try to overcome what we can only call the enduring effects of colonialism today.” It was significant that the repudiation of the “Doctrine of Discovery” came during the pontificate of history’s first Latin American pope. Even before the Canadian trip, the Argentine pope had apologized to Native peoples in Bolivia in 2015 for the crimes of the colonial-era conquest of the Americas. Felix Hoehn, a property and administrative law professor at the University of Saskatchewan, said the Vatican statement would have no legal bearing on land claims in Canada today, but would have symbolic value. “The most that any papal repudiation of the doctrine (or the bulls, for that matter) can do in relation to Canadian law is to apply pressure on the Supreme Court of Canada to renounce the doctrine as part of Canadian law,” he said. Beyond that, though, is the hope that the statement could show that the Catholic Church wants to be an ally with Indigenous peoples as they fight for their human rights and their land, and to protect it, said the Rev. David McCallum, an American Jesuit who has worked with Indigenous peoples in the Syracuse area and was consulted during the drafting of the statement. LGBTQ+ legislation Trump charged Latest on Russia-Ukraine war Film Review: 'The Super Mario Bros. Movie' More news Search Vatican rejects doctrine that fueled centuries of colonialism By NICOLE WINFIELD March 30, 2023 FILE - Pope Francis arrives for a pilgrimage at the Lac Saint Anne, Canada, on July 26, 2022. The Vatican on Thursday, March 30, 2023, responded to Indigenous demands and formally repudiated the “Doctrine of Discovery,” the theories backed by 15th-century “papal bulls” that legitimized the colonial-era seizure of Native lands and form the basis of some property law today. (AP Photo/Gregorio Borgia, File) ADVERTISEMENT VATICAN CITY (AP) — The Vatican on Thursday responded to Indigenous demands and formally repudiated the “Doctrine of Discovery,” the theories backed by 15th-century “papal bulls” that legitimized the colonial-era seizure of Native lands and form the basis of some property laws today. A Vatican statement said the papal bulls, or decrees, “did not adequately reflect the equal dignity and rights of Indigenous peoples” and have never been considered expressions of the Catholic faith. The statement, from the Vatican’s development and education offices, marked a historic recognition of the Vatican’s own complicity in colonial-era abuses committed by European powers. It was issued under history’s first Latin American pontiff, who was hospitalized Thursday with a respiratory infection, exactly one year after Francis met at the Vatican with Indigenous leaders from Canada who raised the issue. On Thursday, these Indigenous leaders welcomed the statement as a first good step, even though it didn’t address the rescinding of the bulls themselves and continued to take distance from acknowledging actual Vatican culpability in abuses. The statement said the papal documents had been “manipulated” for political purposes by competing colonial powers “to justify immoral acts against Indigenous peoples that were carried out, at times, without opposition from ecclesial authorities.” CANADA Judge weighs request to toss Chasing Horse's sex abuse case Ex-Canadian PM Mulroney recovering from prostate cancer It said it was right to “recognize these errors,” acknowledge the terrible effects of colonial-era assimilation policies on Indigenous peoples and ask for their forgiveness. The statement was a response to decades of Indigenous demands for the Vatican to formally rescind the papal bulls that provided the Portuguese and Spanish kingdoms the religious backing to expand their territories in Africa and the Americas for the sake of spreading Christianity. Those decrees underpin the “Doctrine of Discovery,” a legal concept coined in a 1823 U.S. Supreme Court decision that has come to be understood as meaning that ownership and sovereignty over land passed to Europeans because they “discovered” it. It was cited as recently as a 2005 Supreme Court decision involving the Oneida Indian Nation written by the late Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg. During Pope Francis’ 2022 visit to Canada, where he apologized to Indigenous peoples for the residential school system that forcibly removed Native children from their homes, he was met with demands for a formal repudiation of the papal bulls. Two Indigenous women unfurled a banner at the altar of the National Shrine of Sainte-Anne-de-Beaupré on July 29 that read: “Rescind the Doctrine” in bright red and black letters. Before that, Michelle Schenandoah of the Oneida Nation had called for the Vatican to rescind the papal bulls when she delivered the closing remarks of the First Nations delegation that met with Francis during a weeklong visit last year by Native groups from Canada. On Thursday, she called the Vatican statement “another step in the right direction,” but noted that it didn’t mention the rescinding of the bulls themselves. “I think what this does is it really puts the responsibility on nation states such as the United States, to look at its use of the Doctrine of Discovery,” she said in a interview from Syracuse, New York, where she is a professor of Indigenous law at Syracuse University’s College of Law. “This goes beyond land. It really has created generation upon generation of genocidal policies directed towards Indigenous peoples. And I think that it’s time for these governments to take full accountability for their actions.” In the statement, the Vatican said: “The Catholic Church therefore repudiates those concepts that fail to recognize the inherent human rights of Indigenous peoples, including what has become known as the legal and political ‘doctrine of discovery.’” Phil Fontaine, a former national chief of the Assembly of First Nations in Canada who was also part of the First Nations delegation that met with Francis at the Vatican, said the statement was “wonderful,” resolved an outstanding issue and now puts the matter to civil authorities to revise property laws that cite the doctrine. “The church has done one thing, as it said it would do, for the Holy Father. Now the ball is in the court of governments, the United States and in Canada, but particularly in the United States where the doctrine is embedded in the law,” he told The Associated Press. The Vatican offered no evidence that the three papal bulls (Dum Diversas in 1452, Romanus Pontifex in 1455 and Inter Caetera in 1493) had themselves been formally abrogated, rescinded or rejected, as Vatican officials have often said. But it cited a subsequent bull, Sublimis Deus in 1537, that reaffirmed that Indigenous peoples shouldn’t be deprived of their liberty or the possession of their property, and were not to be enslaved. Cardinal Michael Czerny, the Canadian Jesuit whose office co-authored the statement, stressed that the original bulls had long ago been abrogated and that the use of the term “doctrine” — which in this case is a legal term, not a religious one — had led to centuries of confusion about the church’s role. The original bulls, he said, “are being treated as if they were teaching, magisterial or doctrinal documents, and they are an ad hoc political move. And I think to solemnly repudiate an ad hoc political move is to generate more confusion than clarity.” He stressed that the statement wasn’t just about setting the historical record straight, but “to discover, identify, analyze and try to overcome what we can only call the enduring effects of colonialism today.” It was significant that the repudiation of the “Doctrine of Discovery” came during the pontificate of history’s first Latin American pope. Even before the Canadian trip, the Argentine pope had apologized to Native peoples in Bolivia in 2015 for the crimes of the colonial-era conquest of the Americas. Felix Hoehn, a property and administrative law professor at the University of Saskatchewan, said the Vatican statement would have no legal bearing on land claims in Canada today, but would have symbolic value. “The most that any papal repudiation of the doctrine (or the bulls, for that matter) can do in relation to Canadian law is to apply pressure on the Supreme Court of Canada to renounce the doctrine as part of Canadian law,” he said. Beyond that, though, is the hope that the statement could show that the Catholic Church wants to be an ally with Indigenous peoples as they fight for their human rights and their land, and to protect it, said the Rev. David McCallum, an American Jesuit who has worked with Indigenous peoples in the Syracuse area and was consulted during the drafting of the statement. “So now for the church to not only acknowledge the damage, but also to repudiate the whole mindset of cultural superiority, of racial superiority to, in a sense, renounce that whole way of thinking and say that forever forward the church wants to be an active ally in protecting Indigenous human rights along with all human rights, I think it’s a big statement,” he said. ___ Rob Gillies contributed to this report from Toronto. Source: https://apnews.com/article/vatican-indigenous-papal-bulls-pope-francis-062e39ce5f7594a81bb80d0417b3f902
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