The Vatican has rejected the Doctrine of Discovery a year after Pope Francis met with Indigenous groups from Canada and apologized for the Catholic ChurchSA国际影视传媒檚 role in the residential school system.

A statement from the Vatican on Thursday said the papal bulls, or decrees, SA国际影视传媒渄id not adequately reflect the equal dignity and rights of Indigenous peoples.SA国际影视传媒�

The 15th-century doctrine was connected to the idea that lands being colonized were empty, when in fact Indigenous people had long called them home.

SA国际影视传媒淭hese racist legal doctrines have allowed Canada to unilaterally claim sovereignty over our peoples and our lands and further used it as an excuse to commit genocide,SA国际影视传媒� Chief Bobby Cameron of the Federation of Sovereign Indigenous Nations, which represents 73 First Nations in Saskatchewan, said in a statement.

SA国际影视传媒淭oday, the Vatican finally said what our peoples have always known.SA国际影视传媒�

More than 500 years ago, popes began issuing the first of a series of edicts, known as papal bulls.

The Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada, which investigated residential schools in Canada, said these bulls helped shape the political and legal arguments that became known as the Doctrine of Discovery.

The commissionSA国际影视传媒檚 final report included a call to action for all religious denominations SA国际影视传媒渢o repudiate concepts used to justify European sovereignty over Indigenous lands and peoples, such as the Doctrine of Discovery.SA国际影视传媒�

Last March, First Nations, Metis and Inuit groups went to Rome to meet with Pope Francis. Francis apologized for the churchSA国际影视传媒檚 role in residential schools, but delegates also told him the doctrine must be rejected.

The pontiff travelled to Canada in July for a six-day tour, during which apologized again for residential schools and was criticized for not addressing the papal bulls. Throughout his stops in Alberta, Quebec and Nunavut, people held signs and yelled for the Pope to reject the doctrine.

Donald Bolen, the Archbishop of Regina, said Indigenous people made it clear that the Vatican needed to address the issue.

SA国际影视传媒淭he language in those bulls is deeply wounding and problematic, and there was a desire for the Holy See to address it, and they have.SA国际影视传媒�

The Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops, of which Bolen is a member, said in a statement that itSA国际影视传媒檚 grateful Indigenous organizations urged the move. The conference signed a statement calling for the church to reject principals associated with the doctrine in 2016.

Bolen said the VaticanSA国际影视传媒檚 statement Thursday shows Francis was listening to Indigenous people during their meetings at the Vatican and throughout his time in Canada.

SA国际影视传媒淚 think thereSA国际影视传媒檚 no doubt that itSA国际影视传媒檚 a response given at the request of Indigenous people in Canada,SA国际影视传媒� he said.

The statement from the Vatican, however, said the doctrine is not part of the teachings of the church and the documents were SA国际影视传媒渨ritten in a specific historical period and linked to political questions.SA国际影视传媒�

The Vatican said the contents of the documents were manipulated for political purposes to justify SA国际影视传媒渋mmoral acts against Indigenous Peoples.SA国际影视传媒�

SA国际影视传媒淚t is only just to recognize these errors, acknowledge the terrible effects of the assimilation policies and the pain experienced by Indigenous peoples, and ask for pardon.SA国际影视传媒�

Cody Groat, who is Mohawk from Six Nations in Ontario and an Indigenous studies professor at Western University, said implying that the church never advanced the doctrine shifts the blame.

Groat, who is also seeking to be the federal NDP candidate in a rural Ontario riding, said the statement suggests the Vatican recognizes it is in SA国际影视传媒渁 period of global reckoningSA国际影视传媒� and had to take this step SA国际影视传媒渋n order to stay relevant.SA国际影视传媒�

Federal Justice Minister David Lametti tweeted Thursday that advocacy by Indigenous leaders and communities led to the VaticanSA国际影视传媒檚 statement, calling it SA国际影视传媒渁 doctrine that should have never existed.SA国际影视传媒�

SA国际影视传媒淭his is another step forward,SA国际影视传媒� he said.

SA国际影视传媒擝y Kelly Geraldine Malone and Stephanie Taylor, The Canadian Press