Banner against indigenous doctrine unfurled at papal Mass

The large banner, protesting the so-called doctrine of discovery, was unfurled near the front row facing the congregation as the pope was starting Mass in a cathedral outside Quebec City. It was not clear if the pope, who was behind the banner, was able to see what it said.

SAINTE-ANNE-DE-BEAUPRE, Quebec, July 28 (Reuters) - P articipants at Pope Francis' Mass in Canada on Thursday unfurled a banner asking him to formally rescind edicts from the 15th century in which the papacy justified taking indigenous land in the New World. The large banner, protesting the so-called doctrine of discovery, was unfurled near the front row facing the congregation as the pope was starting Mass in a cathedral outside Quebec City. Most of the people in the church were indigenous.

Those who held up the banner, written on a white sheet with red letters, later took it down themselves. It was not clear if the pope, who was behind the banner, was able to see what it said.