Freed at Last: The Conflicted History of the Church and Slavery

The history of the Church and slavery is full of conflict and contradiction: The popes began speaking
against slavery as early as the fifteenth century, yet some U.S. Catholics kept slaves until a Constitutional
amendment abolished the practice. Catholics were enslavers and yet their enslaved persons were often
baptized Catholics who expressed their faith in powerful and authentic ways. Catholics in the North
fought for the Union, yet many did not support emancipation of enslaved persons, fearing economic
competition and social diminishment. Learn about these apparent contradictions in Catholic history in
this presentation given by historian and current dean of Mount St. Mary’s Seminary, Fr. David Endres.