Pope Leo XIV Apologizes For Vatican’s Role In Slavery

May 25, 2026

Pope Leo XIV becomes the first pontiff to publicly apologize for the Holy See’s direct role in legitimizing slavery through papal bulls authorizing European conquest and enslavement.

Pope Leo XIV just became the first pontiff in history to publicly own the Vatican’s direct role in slavery, and he didn’t hold back about it.

In his first encyclical, “Magnifica Humanitas,” released Monday, the American-born pope called the Holy See’s record on slavery “a wound in Christian memory” that the church can’t just brush off.

This isn’t some vague apology for what Christians did; it’s the pope admitting that past popes literally gave European kings permission to conquer Africa and enslave non-Christians.

The receipts go back centuries. In 1452, Pope Nicholas V issued a papal bull called Dum Diversas that straight-up authorized Portuguese rulers to invade, conquer, and enslave anyone they deemed “infidels.”

Three years later, another bull called Romanus Pontifex doubled down on that authority.

These documents became the foundation for the Doctrine of Discovery, the legal framework that justified colonizing entire continents and treating people like property.

Multiple popes after Nicholas V—Callixtus III, Sixtus IV, and Leo X—all confirmed or renewed these permissions, according to historical records.

Leo XIV connected this historical atrocity to modern slavery happening right now. According to NBC News, he raised the trans-Atlantic slave trade alongside what he called new forms of slavery fueled by the digital revolution, like unregulated labor used to mine rare minerals for AI chips.

The pope wrote that it’s impossible not to feel deep sorrow about the suffering endured by enslaved people, and he asked for pardon on behalf of the church.

He also acknowledged that it took eighteen centuries for the church to recognize slavery’s incompatibility with Christian doctrine, which is a massive understatement.

Leo’s personal connection to this history adds another layer. Genealogical research shows that seventeen of his American ancestors were Black, and his family tree includes both enslaved people and slave owners.

The Vatican formally rejected the Doctrine of Discovery in 2023, but it never actually rescinded the original papal bulls, until now. Leo’s making it clear that those documents represent a stain on the church’s conscience that demands acknowledgment.

The pope warned that if the church doesn’t firmly condemn modern forms of slavery tied to technology, future generations will be asking for another apology.

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