Pope Leo XIV apologizes for Vatican slavery, warns on AI

Pope Leo XIV issued a historic apology for the Vatican’s role in legitimizing slavery and delivered a sweeping warning about the dangers of artificial intelligence in his first major encyclical, released Monday. The document, titled “Magnifica Humanitas” (Magnificent Humanity), frames both historical and contemporary challenges as threats to fundamental human dignity.

The pope’s apology addresses the Holy See’s direct historical involvement in the transatlantic slave trade, a first for a pontiff. While past popes have apologized for Christians' involvement, Leo XIV explicitly acknowledged that 15th-century papal bulls authorized European sovereigns to conquer lands and enslave non-Christians. These directives formed the basis of the colonial-era Doctrine of Discovery. The pope wrote that contemplating this history causes deep sorrow and constitutes a wound in Christian memory, and he asked for pardon in the name of the Church. He noted that the church’s explicit condemnation of slavery did not come until 1888.

The encyclical’s primary focus, however, is on safeguarding humanity amid rapid technological advancement. Pope Leo warned that artificial intelligence is never neutral...