Vatican reaffirms Indigenous rights to land and self-determination at United Nations

The Holy See reaffirmed Indigenous peoples' rights to land and self-determination at the United Nations on October 7. Archbishop Christophe El Kassis, the Holy See's apostolic nuncio and permanent observer to the UN, addressed the General Assembly's Third Committee in New York.

Citing the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, he said the declaration requires states to consult and cooperate in good faith to obtain Indigenous peoples' free, prior and informed consent before approving projects that affect their lands or resources.

"Indigenous peoples are not objects of development policies, but subjects and protagonists of their own destinies," he said. He noted that the declaration upholds their rights to maintain and strengthen their distinct institutions, cultures, languages, traditions and spiritualities, and that 2027 marks its 20th anniversary.

Adopted in 2007, the declaration recognizes Indigenous peoples' right to self-determination. Its land provisions go beyond cultural recognition: they affirm the right to own, use, develop and control traditionally held lands, territories and resources, and call on states to give those lands legal recognition and protection.

The Holy See's position sits within a longer history of Indigenous pressure on the Catholic Church to confront its role in colonization and dispossession. In March 2023, the Vatican formally repudiated the Doctrine of Discovery, the legal and political concept used to justify colonial claims over Indigenous lands. Its statement said the papal bulls behind the doctrine "did not adequately reflect the equal dignity and rights of indigenous peoples," while maintaining that the doctrine "is not part of the teaching of the Catholic Church."

The Assembly of First Nations welcomed the repudiation on March 31, 2023, noting that an AFN delegation had travelled to the Vatican in 2022 to call for the papal documents to be rescinded. The AFN said then-National Chief RoseAnne Archibald wanted a new, formal papal bull affirming Indigenous sovereignty and control over lands, resources, governance, culture and language.

Other First Nations leaders pressed for concrete action. In a First Nations Leadership Council statement on March 30, 2023, B.C. Assembly of First Nations Regional Chief Terry Teegee welcomed the repudiation as First Nations move forward to "break down and reverse the colonial systems that were imposed on First Nations." In the same statement, Grand Chief Stewart Phillip, president of the Union of British Columbia Indian Chiefs, said it came "without reparations or tangible actions" and called on the Vatican to commit to "substantive reparations for the centuries of harm done."

The October 7 statement announces no land transfers, compensation or new UN resolution.