The Church's Early Opposition to Slavery

The Catholic Church's opposition to slavery dates back centuries before the modern world. It can be traced as far back as the Council of Ogda in 506 and the Council of Worms in the 9th century. Various saints and popes, such as Saint Patrick in the 4th century and Saint Gregory the Great in the 6th century, have been vocal against slavery. Papal bulls, exhortations, and encyclicals, such as 'Sicut Duutum' in 1435, condemned slavery as a product of Satan. The Church went further to excommunicate Catholics, including princes, who owned slaves. The church's stance on reparations for slavery was also ahead of its time, as it called for reparations long before the abolishment of slavery in 1835 and 1865.