The Vancouver Unitarians’ congregation formally endorsed the Canadian Unitarian Council’s (CUC) motion passed on May 19, 2023 to “Repudiate the Doctrine of Discovery” later amended in May 2024 to also include repudiating the doctrine of Terra Nullius.
This resolution builds on the work that members of the Environment, IPA and SJ teams started in 2022. Here is a recording of the Doctrine of Discovery and Terra Nullius Forum held on November 20, 2022. This forum was instrumental in helping the CUC draft and approve their motions to repudiate the Doctrine of Discovery and the Doctrine of Terra Nullius. The resolution was passed at the Extraordinary General Meeting on June 8, 2025.
The Doctrine of Discovery comprises several 15th century papal bulls proclaiming that Christian nations had the right to take possession of the lands of non-Christians to save their souls by Christianizing them. The Doctrine of Terra Nullius (vacant land) was considered to apply to land not yet occupied by Christians, so sovereignty, title and jurisdiction could be claimed over it. Please click here for additional reading materials related to this resolution.