Pope Leo XIV has issued a historic apology for the Holy See's past actions in legitimizing slavery, acknowledging the role of past Popes in authorizing the subjugation of people.

Past Popes have apologised for Christians' involvement in the trans-Atlantic slave trade. But no Pope has ever publicly acknowledged, much less apologised for, the role that past popes themselves played in giving European sovereigns explicit authority to subjugate and enslave “infidels.”