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In his groundbreaking new encyclical “Magnifica Humanitas,” Pope Leo XIV has apologized for the Vatican’s role in the slave trade—a first for the world’s largest Christian denomination.
The much-anticipated document, the first encyclical of Leo’s now year-old papacy, comes amid contentious global debate over the proliferation and ethical ramifications of artificial intelligence, which is the focus of the nearly 38,000-word text.
In a rare move, the pope chose to introduce the document personally with a livestreamed press conference at the Vatican, alongside experts in AI, ethics, and Catholic doctrine, as well as the Vatican's secretary of state.
“Like nuclear energy, [AI] must be at the service of all and of the common good,” Leo said at the event, speaking in English and describing the emerging technology as a tool that must be “disarmed.”
“Decisions about technology must never be separated from conscience and responsibility. ‘Let us not sleep as others do,’ admonished the Apostle Paul, ‘but let us keep awake’ (1 Thess 5:6). Such vigilance is necessary today. Peace, not merely the absence of war, is justice at work. But when technology weakens our critical sense, peace itself is at risk.”
In the era of #ArtificialIntelligence, when human dignity is threatened by new forms of dehumanization, ours is the pressing duty to remain profoundly human. We must lovingly safeguard the grandeur of humanity bestowed upon us and revealed in its fullness in Christ, the splendor…
— Pope Leo XIV (@Pontifex) May 25, 2026
The pontiff’s comments on slavery come partway through “Magnifica Humanitas,” in the context of the new forms of bondage that have emerged in the world and which are potentially exacerbated by new technological advances. Historically, the Catholic Church—and popes in particular—were a major linchpin in the justification for enslaving various people groups in Africa and the New World.
Pope Leo XIV notes that the Vatican’s belated full condemnation of slavery, under Pope Leo XIII with his encyclical “In Plurimis” in 1888, constituted an example of the Catholic Church’s development in understanding a given moral issue related to human dignity, much like that now taking place with AI.
“This development offers a clear example of the Church’s growth in understanding the perennial truths of Revelation that she safeguards,” Leo XIV writes.
“It is impossible not to feel deep sorrow when contemplating the immense suffering and humiliation endured by so many in stark contrast to their immeasurable dignity as persons infinitely loved by the Lord. For this, in the name of the Church, I sincerely ask for pardon.”
The apology is one of several issued by a pope concerning slavery, but is believed to be the first to directly attribute fault to the Vatican itself. While on a trip to West Africa in 1985, Pope St. John Paul II famously apologized on behalf of all Christians for enslaving Africans, and again in 1992.
Pope Francis made perhaps the most strident advances on the subject, condemning various sins of Catholic colonizers in the New World, though focusing mostly on Indigenous victims. In a watershed moment in 2023, he entirely repudiated the so-called “Doctrine of Discovery,” which for centuries justified White domination of non-European lands, but he did not use the opportunity to condemn the enslavement of Africans.
Nate Tinner-Williams
Pope Leo XIV’s new comments come on the heels of consistent condemnation of human exploitation since his election as pope in May 2025, after which genealogists quickly discovered his own connections to slavery. His ancestors, a mix of European and African Americans, included both enslaved people and enslavers, and he publicly acknowledged his Black roots in September.
On his own trip to West Africa just last month, Leo warned that foreign subjugation continues to plague the world today, including “continuous violations of international law and neocolonial tendencies.”
“Authorities are called not to dominate, but to serve the people and foster their development. Political action thus finds its guiding criterion in justice, without which there can be no authentic peace, and is expressed in the promotion of fair and dignified conditions for all,” he added, while speaking to civic leaders in Algeria.
“Magnifica Humanitas” comes near the 135th anniversary of Pope Leo XIII’s landmark encyclical “Rerum Novarum,” a document praised as the genesis of modern Catholic social teaching. Leo XIV has previously referenced his nominal predecessor and that document as the inspiration for his papal name, saying shortly after his election in the 2025 conclave that he would like to address the looming ethical issues of AI much like Leo XIII did with the Industrial Revolution.
Aside from the risk of modern slavery, the new encyclical addresses the larger theme of human dignity in relation to the common good, the dangers of unregulated technology, the related scourge of pride and self-sufficiency, and how to use emerging tools humanely rather than for profit or bloodshed.
“Humanity, created by God in all its grandeur, is today facing a pivotal choice: either to construct a new Tower of Babel or to build the city in which God and humanity dwell together,” the document reads in its opening.
“Each generation inherits the task of shaping its own era, of guiding history to become a place where the dignity of every person is safeguarded, justice is promoted and fraternity is made possible.”
Nate Tinner-Williams is co-founder and editor of Black Catholic Messenger.
