Pope Apologizes for Church’s Late Condemnation of Slavery

Pope Leo XIV issued an apology on Monday for the Catholic Church’s centuries‑long delay in condemning slavery, describing it as “a wound in Christian memory.”

In a major statement that also warned about “new forms of slavery” emerging from the digital economy, the pope wrote, “For this, in the name of the Church, I sincerely ask for pardon.”

Previous popes have also apologized for the Church’s involvement in the slave trade. John Paul II denounced slavery in 1992 and, in 2000, issued a sweeping request for forgiveness for historical injustices.

Pope Francis has repeatedly condemned contemporary forms of slavery.

Leo’s remarks went further. He noted that the Church owned slaves until the Middle Ages and that it had advised European sovereigns on how to justify the enslavement of “infidels.”

According to the pope, it was only in the 19th century that “a formal, absolute and universal condemnation of slavery was clearly articulated,” a point he made in the document “Magnifica Humanitas” (Magnificent Humanity), which focuses primarily on the rise of artificial intelligence.

“It is true that past events cannot be judged anachronistically, as though the moral criteria that matured over time had always been available. Yet neither can we deny or diminish the delay with which both society and the Church came to denounce the scourge of slavery,” Leo said.

He added, “This constitutes a wound in Christian memory, one from which we cannot consider ourselves detached.”

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