The head of the Catholic Church, Pope Leo XIV, has issued a historic apology over the Vatican’s past role in legitimising slavery, describing the church’s delayed condemnation of the practice as “a wound in Christian memory.”

The apology was contained in a major text titled Magnifica Humanitas (“Magnificent Humanity”), in which the pontiff also warned about the rise of “new forms of slavery” associated with the modern digital economy.

In the document, Pope Leo acknowledged that church institutions owned slaves until the Middle Ages and admitted that the Vatican had, at different periods in history, intervened in ways that regulated and legitimised human subjugation.

“In the early modern period, the Apostolic See of Rome, responding to requests from sovereigns, intervened several times in order to regulate and legitimise forms of subjugation, and, in certain cases, the enslavement of ‘infidels’,” the Pope wrote.

He further noted that it was not until the 19th century that the Catholic Church clearly articulated “a formal, absolute and universal condemnation of slavery.”

“For this, in the name of the church, I sincerely ask for pardon,” Pope Leo stated.

While previous popes had apologised for the involvement of Christians in the transatlantic slave trade and other historical injustices, observers say Leo’s remarks represent one of the strongest acknowledgements yet of the Vatican’s direct role in legitimising slavery.

Pope John Paul II had condemned slavery in 1992 and later issued a broad request for forgiveness in 2000 over historical wrongs committed by Christians. Similarly, Pope Francis repeatedly spoke against modern slavery and human exploitation during his papacy.

However, Pope Leo’s latest statement went further by directly referencing the role played by the Holy See in sanctioning certain forms of enslavement in the past.

“It is true that past events cannot be judged anachronistically, as though the moral criteria that matured over time had always been available. Yet, neither can we deny or diminish the delay with which both society and the Church came to denounce the scourge of slavery,” he said.

“This constitutes a wound in Christian memory, one from which we cannot consider ourselves detached,” the Pope added.

The pontiff’s remarks come amid growing global conversations surrounding historical injustices, reparations and the enduring legacy of slavery, as religious institutions and governments continue to face calls for accountability over their involvement in the slave trade.