Pope Leo apologises for Catholic Church’s role in slavery

Vatican City – Acknowledging a dark chapter in the history of the Catholic Church, Pope Leo has formally apologised for the Church’s legacy of slavery. He described it as “a deep wound in Christian memory.”

In an important speech, the Pope admitted that for centuries, certain individuals and institutions within the Church not only remained silently complicit in systems of slavery that violated human dignity, but in some cases even supported them. He said these actions were “inhuman” and “completely contrary to Christian teachings.”

Pope Leo stated, “Before God, and before those whose ancestors suffered from this injustice, we acknowledge that this period in the Church’s history, stained humanity. It caused a serious rupture in the teachings of brotherhood and equality that form the foundation of the Christian faith.”

𝗖𝗵𝘂𝗿𝗰𝗵’𝘀 𝗗𝗮𝗿𝗸 𝗣𝗮𝘀𝘁 𝗔𝗰𝗸𝗻𝗼𝘄𝗹𝗲𝗱𝗴𝗲𝗱 – 𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗔𝗯𝗼𝘂𝘁 𝗙𝗼𝗿𝗰𝗲𝗱 𝗖𝗼𝗻𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘀𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀 𝗧𝗼𝗱𝗮𝘆?

Pope Leo has apologised for the Catholic Church’s role in slavery, where millions of Africans were forcibly taken to the Americas and other… pic.twitter.com/tVpbMNQlKK

— Sanatan Prabhat (@SanatanPrabhat) May 26, 2026

“We must atone for past mistakes”

The Pope clarified that the Church wishes to atone for the mistakes of the past and work toward building a more just society in the future. He said that merely asking for forgiveness is not enough; humanity must learn from history and fight against modern forms of slavery that still exist today.

Lakhs of Africans were forced into slavery

In his speech, the Pope specifically referred to the Atlantic slave trade, during which lakhs of Africans were forcibly enslaved and transported to the Americas and other continents. He admitted that instead of speaking out against this injustice, the Church often chose to remain silent, which he acknowledged was a grave mistake.