Vatican Pope Encyclical
Vatican Secretary of State Cardinal Pietro Parolin, right, talks to theologian Leocadie Lushombo during the presentation of his first encyclical, "Magnifica humanitas: On Safeguarding the Human Person in the Time of Artificial Intelligence," at the Vatican, Monday, May 25, 2026.
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Pope Leo XIV has made a historic apology for the role the Holy See played in legitimizing slavery. Leo’s own family history includes both enslaved people and slave owners. He delivered the apology in his first encyclical “Magnifica Humanitas” or Magnificent Humanity which was released on Monday. Past popes have apologized for Christians’ involvement in the trans-Atlantic slave trade. But no pope has ever publicly acknowledged much less apologized for the role that past popes played in giving European kings explicit authority to subjugate and enslave “infidels.” One expert calls this “a truly remarkable moment.”
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