‘A Wound in Christian Memory’: Pope Leo’s Historic Slavery Apology Embraced by Ghana as a Breakthrough for Justice
In a landmark move that has sent shockwaves through both the Vatican and the African continent, Pope Leo formally apologized on Thursday for the Catholic Church’s historical role in slavery — an acknowledgment Ghana has hailed as an “act of moral courage.” The apology came embedded within the pontiff’s first major teaching document, the encyclical “Magnifica Humanitas” (“Magnificent Humanity”), in which the Pope did not shy away from naming the Church’s own complicity. “It is impossible not to feel deep sorrow when contemplating the immense suffering and humiliation endured by...
