Pope Leo Makes Historic Apology Over Vatican’s Role in Slavery Legitimisation
Pontiff’s First Encyclical Acknowledges Church’s Historical Role in Slavery and Warns Against Modern Forms of Exploitation
- Pope Leo apologises for Vatican’s historical role in slavery
- First encyclical calls slavery legacy a “wound in Christian memory”
- Warns against modern exploitation linked to digital economy
Pope Leo XIV has issued a landmark apology acknowledging the Holy See’s historical involvement in legitimising slavery and its long-standing failure to condemn the practice, describing it as a “wound in Christian memory.”
The Pope, the first U.S.-born pontiff, made the remarks in his inaugural encyclical Magnifica Humanitas (Magnificent Humanity), released on Monday.
While previous popes have expressed regret over Christian participation in the trans-Atlantic slave trade, this marks the first time a pontiff has explicitly apologised for past papal decrees that authorised European rulers to subjugate and enslave non-Christians described as “infidels.”
In the encyclical, Pope Leo also drew attention to the Vatican’s delayed condemnation of slavery, noting that it took centuries for the Church to fully recognise its incompatibility with Christian doctrine.
He linked historical injustices to modern forms of exploitation, warning that new systems of “digital colonialism” and unregulated labour practices in the technology sector risk repeating patterns of human exploitation.
The document also referenced 15th-century papal bulls such as Dum Diversas and Romanus Pontifex, which granted European monarchs authority to conquer territories and enslave non-Christians — texts widely seen as forming part of the ideological foundation of colonial expansion.
Although the Vatican formally rejected the Doctrine of Discovery in 2023, it has not officially rescinded the original papal decrees.
Pope Leo stated that while historical context must be considered, the Church cannot ignore the moral delay in condemning slavery.
“This constitutes a wound in Christian memory, one from which we cannot consider ourselves detached,” he wrote, adding that the Church must also be vigilant against modern forms of human trafficking and exploitation.
The encyclical also reflects on past papal positions, noting that Pope Leo XIII issued the Church’s first explicit condemnation of slavery in 1888, long after many countries had already abolished the practice.
Pope Leo concluded by urging the Church and the wider world to uphold human dignity and ensure that past failures are not repeated in new forms of injustice.
