“It’s hard not to feel deep sadness when we think about the great suffering and humiliation faced by so many, especially when we see their immense dignity as individuals deeply loved by the Lord. For this reason, I sincerely ask for forgiveness in the name of the Church,” Leo wrote in “Magnifica Humanitas,” his eagerly awaited first encyclical.
While earlier popes have apologized for the Church’s role in the trans-Atlantic slave trade, none have directly addressed the Church’s broader involvement in sustaining this deeply wrong institution.
At times, the Vatican allowed European rulers to colonize and enslave people from other lands, dressing their cruel actions in a facade of Christian values. In the 15th century, Pope Nicholas V even gave the Portuguese king the power to conquer and rob “Saracens, pagans, and other non-believers, and enemies of Christ,” allowing for their “perpetual slavery.”
Leo confronted this history directly—”As early as the modern period, the Apostolic See of Rome responded to requests from kings, intervening several times to regulate and legitimize forms of oppression, including the enslavement of ‘non-believers,’” he wrote.
“Over time, the Church has gradually realized how serious these issues are,” Leo mentioned. “It’s true that we can’t judge past events by today’s moral standards, as those standards developed over time. However, we also cannot ignore how long it took both society and the Church to speak out against the horror of slavery.”
He noted that it “took eighteen centuries” for the Church to “clearly” see its “complete opposition to slavery.
” “This is a wound in Christian memory, one that we cannot pretend we are separate from,” Leo added.
This statement has sparked anger among many right-leaning individuals online, who believe the Western world should never apologize for its actions, including slavery.
Social media is buzzing with accusations from some that Leo has given in to “suicidal empathy” and “white guilt.” These are often the same people who think the Civil War was about “states’ rights” and view the Confederacy positively.
“For the descendants of enslaved people, this is another important apology from the pope,” said Anthea Butler, a senior fellow at Oxford University’s Koch History Center.
She added that this apology empowers Leo to “address current issues of technological slavery.”
The pope’s apology regarding slavery was part of a longer document titled “Magnificent Humanity.”
This document mainly discusses humanity’s roles and responsibilities as artificial intelligence changes our world. Leo linked this topic to slavery by warning that new technologies could lead to new forms of human exploitation, as neocolonialist labor practices emerge to mine the rare minerals needed for AI chips.
The situation in the Congo is especially terrible, with countless men, women, and children being paid very little—or sometimes nothing at all—to work in unsafe, unhealthy conditions while mining cobalt.
While many world leaders are failing to face today’s challenges and evils, Pope Leo is courageously leading the way.
We are fortunate to have him.
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