Why was pope paul iii important

1537 papal bull banning slavery

Sublimis Deus (English: The sublime God;^[1] erroneously cited as Sublimus Dei) is a Papal bullpromulgated by Pope Paul III on June 2, 1537, which forbids the enslavement of the indigenous peoples of the Americas (called "Indians of the West and the South") and all other indigenous people who could be discovered later or previously known.^[2] It states that the Indians are fully rational human beings who have rights to freedom and property, even if they are heathen.^[3]

In Sublimis Deus, Paul III declares the indigenous peoples of the Americas to be "truly men and that they are not only capable of understanding the Catholic Faith but, according to our information, they desire exceedingly to receive it", and denounces any idea to the contrary as directly inspired by the "enemy of the human race".

He goes on to condemn their reduction to slavery in the strongest terms, declaring it null and void fo