Behind the times
From Don McClen
Sir: Raymond Carr (Books, 16 August) protests that "' enlightened" atheists have distorted the record to obscure the role of the Catholic Church in the abolition of slavery, which it had consistently castigated as a sin' (my italics). Even after slavery had been abolished in the United States, the Vatican's Congregation for the Doctrine of Faith declared (in 1866) that slavery was not contrary to natural or divine law and that slaves could legitimately be bought and sold.
The long and arduous campaign for the abolition of slavery was driven by an evangelical Christian, William Wilberforce, with the support of Quakers, leading to the Slavery Abolition Act being passed by Parliament in 1833. It was to be another 55 years before Pope Leo X111 revoked the official pro-slavery Catholic view.
Don McClen
Sherborne, Dorset
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