# Pope Leo issued the clearest apology yet from a pontiff for the Catholic Church’s role in slavery, acknowledging both its delay in condemning the practice and its historic involvement in legitimising it. In a key passage of his first papal letter to bishops and the global public, Leo says the church had taken centuries to fully recognise the scourge of slavery as incompatible with human dignity. He adds authorities had, at times, responded to rulers by regulating and legitimising forms of subjugation, including the enslavement of non-Christians.
Pope Leo apologises for Catholic Church’s historic role in slavery