1830: the Chaldean Church leaves the Nestorians to reunite with the Holy Catholic Church 1839: In a papal letter, Pope Gregory XVI declared the official opposition of the Church to the slave trade and to slavery. In the United States, Catholic slaveholders generally ignored the papal pronouncement and continued to participate in the institution of slavery.[26] 1842: The University of Notre Dame is founded in South Bend, Indiana, by Father Edward Sorin, of the Congregation of Holy Cross.