“As necessary as it is painful, the story Kellerman tells in
this clearly written volume needs to be discussed in classrooms and
acknowledged in our churches. May it lead to conversion of hearts and
of institutions.”—Jennifer Glancy, author, Slavery as Moral
Problem: In the Early Church and Today
In
this thought-provoking work, Christopher J. Kellerman provides a
rigorously researched, era-by-era history of the Catholic Church’s
teachings and actions related to slavery. By telling stories of
enslaved Catholics and Catholic slaveholders, analyzing arguments of
theologians who either defended or condemned slaveholding, and
examining documents of popes and councils, Kellerman’s book reveals
disturbing answers to contemporary questions about the Church’s
role in the history of slavery and especially in the Atlantic slave
trade. For students, teachers, and all readers interested in how
religion can be used both to oppress and to liberate, All Oppression
Shall Cease gives a detailed account of the Church’s slaveholding
past while issuing a call for the Church to take the necessary steps
to reconcile with its history.
