Pope Leo XIV Apologises for Church’s Historic Role in Slavery

The leader of the Catholic Church, Pope Leo XIV, has issued the strongest papal apology yet for the Church’s historic role in slavery, calling it a “moral failure” and asking forgiveness for centuries of suffering caused by the practice.

In his first encyclical, Magnifica Humanitas (“Magnificent Humanity”), the pope acknowledged that the Church was slow to fully condemn slavery and admitted that Church authorities had at times legitimized forms of subjugation, including the enslavement of non-Christians.

“For this, in the name of the Church, I sincerely ask for pardon,” Leo wrote, describing slavery as “a wound in Christian memory.”

The pope also noted that ecclesiastical institutions in the Middle Ages owned slaves and said the Church only reached a “formal, absolute, and universal condemnation” of slavery in the 19th century under Pope Leo XIII.

Previous pontiffs, including Pope John Paul II and Pope Francis, had condemned slavery and asked forgiveness for historical injustices. However, Leo’s remarks are being seen as the clearest admission yet of institutional responsibility by the Vatican itself.

The comments were included in Magnifica Humanitas, which also focuses on the ethical challenges posed by artificial intelligence and warns about new forms of exploitation tied to the global economy.