Pope Leo XIV issued a significant apology on Monday, addressing the Vatican's historical role in legitimizing slavery and its longstanding failure to denounce the practice. He described the Church's record on this issue as a "wound in Christian memory," acknowledging the pain caused by the complicity of past popes and the institution itself. While previous popes have expressed regret regarding the involvement of Christians in the trans-Atlantic slave trade, this marks the first time a pope has publicly recognized and apologized for the Vatican's direct role in its legitimization.
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