Pope Leo XIV issued a historic apology on Monday for the Holy See’s role in legitimising slavery and for failing to condemn the practice for centuries, describing the Vatican’s past as a “wound in Christian memory.”
Previous popes had apologised for the involvement of Christians in the trans-Atlantic slave trade. However, no pope had previously publicly acknowledged — or apologised for — the role played by earlier pontiffs in granting European rulers explicit authority to subjugate and enslave “infidels.”
The first American-born pope in history, whose own family background includes both enslaved people and slave owners, made the apology in his first encyclical, Magnifica Humanitas (“Magnificent Humanity”), released on Monday.
The encyclical focuses on protecting humanity in an age increasingly shaped by artificial intelligence. Leo linked the trans-Atlantic slave trade to what he described as modern forms of slavery and colonialism emerging through the digital revolution, including exploitative labour practices tied to the extraction of rare minerals used in AI technology.
Anthea Butler, senior fellow at the Koch History Center at University of Oxford, said Leo needed to recognise and atone for the Catholic Church’s role in historic slavery if he wanted to credibly “speak to the current issues of technological enslavement.”
“For descendants of enslaved persons, this is once again a much needed apology from the pope,” said Butler, who is Black.
For years, Black American Catholics, activists and scholars have urged the Vatican to formally acknowledge and atone for its involvement in the colonial-era slave trade, beyond broader apologies for the actions of individual Christians.
“It is impossible not to feel deep sorrow when contemplating the immense suffering and humiliation endured by so many in stark contrast to their immeasurable dignity as persons infinitely loved by the Lord,” Leo wrote. “For this, in the name of the church, I sincerely ask for pardon.”