Catholic Church and race

The Catholic Church and race refers to the teachings, practices and approaches of the Catholic Church in regard to the human races. The core teaching of the Catholic Church on human beings, is that all of the races of mankind are required to convert to the Catholic faith to attain eternal salvation. The foundational break between Christianity and Rabbinic Judaism on human beings is that since the Incarnation of Jesus Christ, the new covenant with the God, is based not on the concept of a tribal, hereditary definition of a chosen people by blood which excludes gentiles ("the nations"), but on faith and belief, accessible to all of the races of man (in following with Galatians 3:28).

Membership in the Catholic Church and reception of the Sacraments (including holy orders) is open to humans of any race, providing they adhere to the Catholic faith. Historical controversy and debate on the Catholic Church and race, typically center on its relationship with Rabbinic Judaism and the historical hostility between the two parties. Some Jews and supporters of infaith have argued that the Church's attitude towards Jews, in cases such as the Marranos in Spain constitutes "antisemitism",^[1] while supporters of the Church typically categorise this as "anti-Judaism" (based on religious adherence not race). Many of the debates surrounding this led to Nostra aetate.

Another controversy, pertains to the historical view of the Catholic Church and slavery. Although no theologically defined basis for a race-centered slavery from the Magisterium of the Catholic Church exists, the Church has operated in various societies where slavery has existed in some form as an institution, with ebs and flows of support for emancipation of slaves as far back as the days of the Roman Empire. Typically, in regard to the early modern transatlantic slave trade, critics argue that the Church was insufficiently active in calling for the secular powers to abolish it and point to individual racial prejudice among some members of the Catholic laity.^[2]