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Pope Leo XIV has issued a historic apology for the role past popes and the Holy See played in legitimising slavery during the colonial era, describing it as “a wound in Christian memory.”

The apology was contained in the Pope’s first encyclical titled Magnifica Humanitas (“Magnificent Humanity”), released on Monday. The document focuses largely on the ethical dangers of artificial intelligence and modern forms of exploitation linked to the digital economy.

In the encyclical, Pope Leo XIV acknowledged that past Vatican authorities authorised forms of subjugation and enslavement of non-Christians during the 15th century through papal decrees issued to European monarchs.

“For this, in the name of the Church, I sincerely ask for pardon,” the Pope wrote while reflecting on the suffering endured by enslaved people.

Historians have long cited papal bulls such as Dum Diversas and Romanus Pontifex as foundations for the Doctrine of Discovery, which was used to justify European colonial expansion and slavery in Africa and the Americas.

Although previous popes, including Pope John Paul II, apologised for Christians’ involvement in the slave trade, Pope Leo XIV is believed to be the first pontiff to directly acknowledge and apologise for the role of past popes themselves.

The Vatican formally repudiated the Doctrine of Discovery in 2023, though it did not revoke the original papal decrees linked to it.

Pope Leo XIV also warned against what he described as “new forms of slavery” emerging from the global digital economy, including exploitative labour practices tied to the production of minerals used in artificial intelligence technology.

The Pope said the Church must firmly oppose all forms of human exploitation to avoid “having to ask for pardon again in the future.”