POPE APOLOGIZES FOR VATICAN'S ROLE IN SLAVERY

VATICAN CITY, MAY 25 /SRNA/ - Pope Leo XIV has made a historic apology for the Vatican's role in legitimizing slavery and failing to condemn it for centuries, calling the Vatican's records "a wound in Christian memory".

"It is impossible not to feel profound sadness when we reflect on the immense suffering and humiliation that so many endured in stark contrast to their immense dignity as people infinitely loved by the Lord. For this, in the name of the Church, I sincerely ask for forgiveness," pope Leo wrote in his first major document called Magnifica Humanitas.

AP reminds that Leo XIV is the first pope in history born in the United States, whose family history includes both enslaved people and slave owners.

Previous popes have apologized for the participation of Christians in the transatlantic slave trade, but no pope has ever publicly acknowledged, much less apologized, for the role played by earlier heads of the Catholic Church, who gave European sovereigns explicit authority to subjugate and enslave "infidels".

The Vatican has insisted that it has always upheld the dignity of all human beings as children of God. But a series of 15th-century Vatican directives authorized Portuguese sovereigns to conquer Africa and the Americas and enslave non-Christians.

Pope Leo's comprehensive manifesto talks about protecting humanity in an era of increasing reliance on artificial intelligence /AI/.

Pope Leo compared the transatlantic slave trade to what he called new forms of slavery and colonialism fueled by the digital revolution, such as unregulated labor practices in the procurement of rare minerals needed for AI chips.