Mehr als 400 Jahre lang erlitten schwarzafrikanische Männer, Frauen und Kinder während des transatlantischen Sklavenhandels schlimmste Formen der Versklavung und Erniedrigung durch Katholiken und das westliche Christentum. Damals wie heute glaubte niemand an die tiefe Verwicklung der Kirche und des Papsttums in den schwarzafrikanischen Holocaust. Trotz jüngster Behauptungen des päpstlichen Officiums in Rom, wonach die Päpste jegliche Form von Sklaverei verurteilten, so auch im Falle der Versklavung von Schwarzafrikanern, verweisen neuere Studien innerhalb dieses Forschungsfeldes auf das Gegenteil. Die Kirche und die Päpste nahmen vielmehr zentrale Rollen in diesem schlimmsten Verbrechen gegen die Schwarzafrikaner seit Beginn der schriftlichen Dokumentation ein. Mithilfe zahlreicher päpstlicher Bullen aus den Geheimarchiven des Vatikans und einer Vielzahl an königlichen Dokumenten aus dem portugiesischen Nationalarchiv in Lissabon, strebt der vorliegende Band eine kritische und analytische Untersuchung dieses Aspekts des transatlantischen Sklavenhandels an, der über so viele Jahre von den westlichen Historikern und Gelehrten verschleiert wurde. For over 400 years, Black African men, women and children suffered the worst type of enslavement and humiliation from the hands of Catholics and other Western Christians during the transatlantic slave trade. Before now, no one could ever believe that the Popes of the Church were deeply involved in this Holocaust against Black African people. Despite the claims made by the hallowed papal office in Rome in recent years that the Popes condemned the enslavement of peoples wherever it existed including that of Black Africans, recent researches in these fields of study have proved the contrary to be true. The Church and her Popes were rather among the major “role players” in this worst crime against Black Africans in recorded history. With the help of a considerable number of papal Bulls from the Vatican Secret Archives and a great amount of Royal documents from the Portuguese National Archives in Lisbon, the present book is aiming to undertake a critical and analytical inquiry of this aspect of the transatlantic slavery that has been kept in the dark for so many years by the Western historians and scholars. The results of this studious but fruitful academic inquiry are laid bare in this notable work of the 21st century. Pius Onyemechi Adiele is a Catholic priest of Ahiara Diocese Mbaise and an alumnus of Seat of Wisdom Seminary Owerri and Bigard Memorial Seminary Enugu in Nigeria. He obtained his licentiate in Theology from the famous University of Münster and his doctoral degree in Church History from the renowned University of Tübingen in Germany. At present, he is a research fellow in the areas of African Church History and Enslavement of peoples as well as the pastor in charge of the merged parishes of Lauchheim, Westhausen, Lippach, Röttingen and Hülen in Germany.

Many Americans think of slavery as their nation’s original sin. But in truth, slavery has involved peoples and cultures and countries far beyond the United States. Slavery is as old as human history itself. And yet, the one living institution that has condemned slavery longer and more consistently than any other is the Roman Catholic Church. In The Worst of Indignities: The Catholic Church on Slavery, bestselling author Paul Kengor shines a light on: The record and biblical roots of the Church’s teaching on slavery The efforts of individuals and institutions within the Church to not only bring about freedom for enslaved people but to care for their physical and spiritual needs The stories of former slaves whose lives of exemplary holiness have placed them on the path of sainthood At a time when race relations are so bitter, we need the clarifying truth to unite us all. The story of the Roman Catholic Church’s bold and divine opposition to slavery is one unknown to Catholics and non-Catholics alike. It is time for that story to be told.

"A history of Catholic responses to slavery and abolitionism"--

In der Buchreihe des "Bonn Center for Dependency and Slavery Studies" werden Monographien und Tagungsbände, die das Phänomen der Sklaverei und andere Formen asymmetrischer Abhängigkeiten in Gesellschaften untersuchen, veröffentlicht. Die Reihe folgt dabei der Forschungsagenda des BCDSS, die die vorherrschende dichotomische Vorstellung von "Sklaverei versus Freiheit" überwindet. Das Cluster hat dazu ein neues Schlüsselkonzept ("asymmetrische Abhängigkeiten") entwickelt, das alle Ausprägungen von ungleichen Dependenzen (wie etwa Schuldknechtschaft, Zwangsarbeit, Dienstbarkeit, Leibeigenschaft, Hausarbeit, aber auch gewisse Formen der Lohnarbeit und der Patronage) berücksichtigt. Dabei werden auch Epochen, Räume und Kontexte der Weltgeschichte bearbeitet, die nicht der europäischen Kolonisierung ausgesetzt waren (z.B. altorientalische Kulturen sowie vormoderne und moderne Gesellschaften in Asien, Afrika und den Amerikas).

"Weaves together historical, theological, ethical, and sociological analyses to understand the origins and evolution of anti-black white supremacy and how to overcome it"--

This volume brings together contextual and intercultural responses to the Covid-19 Pandemic from theological and interreligious perspectives. It searches for models of interpretation provided by religious traditions and their sacred texts, and the ethical guidance religious communities offer for coping with the pandemic. The authors explore imaginative ways that transcend the New Normal towards a »Pantopia« that does not return to the pitfalls of the Old Normal but tackles the injustices that the virus has revealed in the current Pandemonium. They strive to enable their readers to react to the glocal pandemic and its aftermath theologically informed by intercultural and interreligious perspectives. [Zwischen Pandämonium und Pandemie. Antworten auf Covid-19 in Theologie und Religion] Der Band vereint kontextuelle und interkulturelle Reaktionen auf die Covid-19-Pandemie aus theologischer und interreligiöser Perspektive. Er sucht nach Interpretationsmustern, die religiöse Traditionen und ihre heiligen Schriften hervorgebracht haben und ethischen Orientierungen, die religiöse Gemeinschaften bieten, um die Pandemie zu bewältigen. Die Autorinnen und Autoren erkunden imaginative Wege, die das New Normal zu einem »Pantopia« transzendieren, das nicht in die Fehler des Old Normal zurückfällt, sondern die Ungerechtigkeiten in Angriff nimmt, die das Virus im gegenwärtigen Pandemonium offengelegt hat. Sie wollen ihre Leser und Leserinnen dadurch befähigen, der glokalen Pandemie und ihren Nachwirkungen durch die interkulturellen und interreligiösen Perspektiven theologisch informiert gegenüber zu treten.

In The Cross of Christ in African American Christian Religious Experience: Piety, Politics, and Protest Demetrius K. Williams examines and explores the ideational importance and rhetorical function of cross language and terminology in the spirituals, conversion narratives, and Black preaching tradition through an ideological lens.

Not only does this book detail the colonial experiences in Africa through what the author refers to as a ‘social construct,’ it also vehemently criticises modern African governments for their current corruption and maintenance of the continent's situation. This book presents a two-pronged analysis of Africa’s predicament by looking at the duality of ethics and identity. It tries to trace the problematic aspects of westernization and modernization within the contexts of neo-colonialism and continued exploitation of Africa by external forces, as well as the complicity of Africans themselves.

The study of enslavement has become urgent over the last two decades. Social scientists, legal scholars, human rights activists, and historians, who study forms of enslavement in both modern and historical societies, have sought - and often achieved - common conceptual grounds, thus forging a new perspective that comprises historical and contemporary forms of slavery. What could certainly be termed a turn in the study of slavery has also intensified awareness of enslavement as a global phenomenon, inviting a comparative, trans-regional approach across time-space divides. Though different aspects of enslavement in different societies and eras are discussed, each of the volume's three parts contributes to, and has benefitted from, a global perspective of enslavement. The chapters in Part One propose to structure the global examination of the theoretical, ideological, and methodological aspects of the "global," "local," and "glocal." Part Two, "Regional and Trans-regional Perspectives of the Global," presents, through analyses of historical case studies, the link between connectivity and mobility as a fundamental aspect of the globalization of enslavement. Finally, Part Three deals with personal points of view regarding the global, local, and glocal. Grosso modo, the contributors do not only present their case studies, but attempt to demonstrate what insights and added-value explanations they gain from positioning their work vis-à-vis a broader "big picture."

This book provides an in-depth historical exploration of the risk and protective factors that generate disproportionality in the psychological wellness, somatic health, and general safety of Black men in four industrialized Euronormative nations. It provides a detailed analysis of how nationalism, globalism, colonialism, and imperialism have facilitated practices, philosophies, and policies to support the development and maintenance of inter-generational systems of oppression for Black men and boys. The text juxtaposes empirically-supported constructs like historical trauma and epigenetics with current outcomes for Black men in the US, the UK, France and Canada. It details how contemporary institutions, practices, and policies (such as psychological testing, the school to prison pipeline, and over-incarceration) are reiterations of historic ones (such as convict leasing, debt peonage, and the Jim Crow laws). The text uses paleontological, archaeological, and anthropological research to cover over 200,000 years of history. It closes with strength-based paradigms aimed to dismantle oppressive structures, support the post-traumatic growth of Black men and boys, and enhance the systems and practitioners that serve them.