VATICAN CITY - The Catholic Church took a fresh step Thursday in acknowledging abuse endured by Indigenous peoples with the Vatican formally rejecting 15th-century papal edicts that empowered Europeans to colonize non-Christian lands. During a trip to Canada last July, Pope Francis faced repeated calls to rescind the so-called Doctrine of Discovery, which was used to justify abuses against Indigenous peoples, mostly in the Americas, who were viewed as inferior. In Canada, campaigners drew a direct link between the doctrine and decades of 20th-century abuse of the country's First Nations, Metis and Inuit people at Catholic-run schools -- described by Francis as "genocide". Re...Keep on reading: Vatican rejects doctrine used to justify colonial abuse