Columbus was on a gold finding mission and he made sure to get funding and approval from the Spanish King and Queen before embarking.

"Finding" gold requires labour and Columbus soon enslaved, beat, destroyed families, forced conversion to Christianity and simply stole the goods from the Indians he "found" on his gold fishing lands. 

All with the approval of the Catholic Pope.

There is in history, little to recommend Columbus.
Except as lies told by those who benefited from Columbus and the ongoing myth of his greatness.

(Hey reviewers - you may not like this post but it is history and it is not uncivil. Play fair.)