Did the Catholic Church condone slavery?

When Catholics argue about the more controversial teachings of the church, it's not unusual for someone to try to shut the conversation down by reminding everyone that debate is pointless since the church never changes. If you don’t like a specific doctrine, well, too bad, since it’s not going anywhere. The Catholic Church is the living repository of revealed truth so it’s always been right and isn’t going to change—or so the argument goes. So, for instance, when it comes to something gravely evil like slavery, the church must have always opposed this practice—right?  But what to do about those passages in scripture, from doctors of the church like Thomas Aquinas, or even from earlier official documents, that seem to support slavery? Did the church actually condone slavery at some earlier point, then change its teaching later? Our guest on today’s episode is going to talk about the history of the Catholic Church’s stance on slavery. Alessandra Harris is a novelist, essayist, and racial justice advocate. Her fiction books include Blaming the Wind, Everything She Lost, and Last Place Seen (all from Red Adept Publishing). In 2023, she published her first nonfiction book, In the Shadow of Freedom: The Enduring Call for Racial Justice (Orbis Books). Harris has contributed extensively to U.S. Catholic, as well as to Black Catholic Messenger, America Magazine, The Revealer, Grotto Network, Critical Theology Journal, Catholic Worker, and National Catholic Reporter. Learn more about this topic and read some of Harris’ writing in these links: “When did the church condemn slavery?” by Jacob Kohlhaas https://uscatholic.org/articles/202311/when-did-the-church-condemn-slavery/ “How the U.S. Catholic Church profited from slavery,” a U.S. Catholic interview https://uscatholic.org/articles/202308/how-the-u-s-catholic-church-profited-from-slavery/ “The Role of Forgiveness When Confronting Racism,” by Alessandra Harris https://www.grottonetwork.com/stories/reflective-narrative-about-racial-reconciliation “The death penalty in the US is modern-day lynching,” by Alessandra Harris https://www.ncronline.org/opinion/guest-voices/death-penalty-us-modern-day-lynching Glad You Asked is sponsored by the Claretian Missionaries. https://www.claretians.org/