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Posted By Udokabestluv On May 25th, 2026

Pope Leo XIV has issued a formal apology over the Catholic Church’s historical role in slavery, acknowledging that the Vatican helped legitimise the practice for centuries and failed to explicitly condemn the trans-Atlantic slave trade, which he described as “a wound in Christian memory.”
The apology was published in his first encyclical, Magnifica Humanitas (“Magnificent Humanity”), released on Monday. In the document, he also reflected on the risks of artificial intelligence and modern systems of exploitation emerging from the digital economy.
In the encyclical, Pope Leo XIV, for the first time, explicitly admitted that earlier pontiffs provided religious justification to European colonial powers, enabling them to seize territories and enslave non-Christians during the colonial period.
“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,” the Pope wrote, as quoted by AP News.
“For this, in the name of the church, I sincerely ask for pardon.”
While previous popes had expressed regret over Christians’ involvement in slavery, none had directly acknowledged the Vatican’s institutional role in authorising or legitimising it through formal papal decrees.
The encyclical also drew a link between historical slavery and present-day forms of exploitation tied to technological advancement, particularly labour abuses associated with the extraction of minerals used in artificial intelligence systems.
“We must firmly condemn all forms of trafficking related to the digital technological revolution if we want to avoid the need to ask for pardon again in the future,” he stated.
Historically, the Vatican has maintained that the Church upheld the inherent dignity of all human beings as children of God. However, archival records show that several 15th-century papal bulls empowered European monarchs to expand into Africa and the Americas and enslave non-Christians.
One of the most cited documents, Dum Diversas (1452), issued under Pope Nicholas V, authorised Portugal to “invade, conquer, fight and subjugate” non-Christians and place them “into perpetual slavery.”
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