Episode 23: Bishops, Papal Bulls, and the Problem of Domination

On 25 June 2026 • Duration 00:55:52

Powered by RedCircle

Steve Newcomb and Peter d’Errico discuss a Catholic bishops’ Doctrine of Discovery symposium, papal bulls, revocation, and the deeper issue of domination.

Introduction

In this episode, Peter d’Errico interviews Steve Newcomb about a May 2026 Catholic bishops’ symposium on the Doctrine of Discovery in Edmonton, Alberta. Steve reflects on the event, the call to revoke Inter Caetera, and the danger of language that hides domination behind softer terms such as “discovery,” “renunciation,” and “reconciliation.”

Show notes

Peter d’Errico interviews Steve Newcomb about the Knowledge-Sharing Symposium on the Doctrine of Discovery held May 26–29, 2026, in Edmonton, Alberta, on Cree Nation Treaty 6 territory. The gathering was hosted by the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops, with support and participation from Catholic, Vatican, Indigenous, legal, and scholarly voices. Steve describes the event as a serious attempt to speak about the historical and legal weight of colonization, the Catholic Church’s role in that history, and the limits of current church language around the so-called Doctrine of Discovery.

The central issue in this episode is not “discovery” as a neutral act of learning. Steve argues that discovery can work as a red herring. The deeper matter is domination: the claimed right of Christian empires, monarchs, states, and churches to invade, rule, convert, dispossess, and define Native Nations. That claim appears in 15th century papal bulls, especially Inter Caetera, and later in legal systems that turned domination into doctrine, title, jurisdiction, sovereignty, and policy.

Steve also recounts the early 1990s origins of the call to revoke the papal bull, shaped through conversations with Birgil Kills Straight, a Lakota ceremonial leader. He contrasts that sharper demand with later phrases such as “renouncing” or “dismantling” the Doctrine of Discovery. Those phrases may sound helpful, but they can soften the issue. They may shift focus from a concrete papal document and its claim of domination toward a vague legal doctrine.

Peter and Steve close by asking how words frame reality. They examine terms such as revocation, renunciation, discovery, doctrine, rights, and reconciliation. The episode insists that the work is not only about one legal phrase. It is about the structure of domination itself, and about recovering the meaning of original free existence outside the box of empire, state power, and colonial law.

Keywords

• Doctrine of Discovery
• domination
• Inter Caetera
• papal bulls
• revocation
• renunciation
• Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops
• Vatican
• Indigenous Peoples
• original free existence
• Treaty 6 territory
• reconciliation
• colonial law
• Christian empire

Transcript

AI Generated Transcript

Resources

• Domination Chronicles episodes
• Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops: Knowledge-Sharing Symposium on the Doctrine of Discovery
• Holy See Joint Statement on the “Doctrine of Discovery”
• Inter Caetera, Pope Alexander VI, 1493
• Doctrine of Discovery Project
• Steven T. Newcomb, "Joint Statement to the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace"
• An Original Nations’ Examination of “Freedom,” “Human” and “Human Rights” - ORIGINAL FREE NATIONS
• Revoke the Papal Bulls - ORIGINAL FREE NATIONS
• The Challenges of Revoking the Papal Bulls: A View-from-the-Shore Analysis of Recent Statements by Christian Churches
• Continuing Christian Domination: A Response to the Vatican’s Repudiation of the Doctrine of Discovery

Citation

Steve Newcomb and Peter d’Errico, “Episode 23: Bishops, Papal Bulls, and the Problem of Domination,” Domination Chronicles (Podcast), 2026, https://dominationchronicles.com/e023-bishops-papal-bulls-and-domination/.

Citation Downloads

• Download RIS Citation
• Download CSL JSON Citation