Doctrine of Discovery renounced

Resolution urges bishops to issue proclamation in every parish

By Sue Careless

The Anglican Church of Canada has formally renounced what has become known as the Doctrine of Discovery. The resolution, passed at General Synod, said such a mindset is “fundamentally opposed to the Gospel of Jesus Christ and our understanding of the inherent rights that individuals and peoples have received from God.”

The Episcopal Church renounced the doctrine last year and had asked Queen Elizabeth to "disavow and repudiate" it publicly.

One of her predecessors, King Henry VII, had granted Anglo-Italian sailor John Cabot a charter before he sailed to North America in 1497. Probably the first European to reach the continent since the Vikings, Cabot landed that year in Newfoundland or Nova Scotia and claimed the future Canada -- inhabited for centuries by numerous indigenous nations -- for England.

The royal charter had authorized Cabot to take possession of any “isles, countries, regions or provinces of heathens and infidels, in whatsoever part of the world they be, which before this time were unknown to all Christians.” At that time popes and monarchs throughout Europe espoused the Doctrine of Discovery and many often scorned the indigenous peoples as mere “beasts of the forest.”

National Indigenous Bishop Mark MacDonald moved the motion and it was accepted unanimously. Many First Nations delegates and observers were visibly moved by its acceptance.

The resolution also requests that every diocesan bishop issue the Synod’s proclamation in every parish, and share it “with all the nations and peoples located within their dioceses.” The Primate is also to share the declaration with the United Nations. 

Furthermore Synod voted to establish June 21^st as the National Aboriginal Day of Prayer and a liturgy will be developed and authorized for that day “or the nearest convenient Sunday.”