The leader of the Catholic Church, Pope Leo XIV, has apologised for the Church’s historical role in slavery.
According to reports, Pope Leo XIV made this historic apology on Monday for the Holy See’s role in legitimising slavery and for having failed to condemn it for centuries.
The Pope described slavery as “a wound in Christian memory” and issued an apology on behalf of the Church for its complicity in the transatlantic slave trade.
“Although Past popes have apologised for Christians’ involvement in the trans-Atlantic slave trade, no pope has ever publicly acknowledged, much less apologised for, the role that past popes played in giving European sovereigns explicit authority to subjugate and enslave ‘infidels’”, an AP report stated.
“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,” Leo wrote. “For this, in the name of the church, I sincerely ask for pardon.”
Pope Leo XIV also stressed the need for “restorative justice,” arguing that historical injustices such as colonialism, racial discrimination and exploitation continued to affect many communities even till today.
According to the Pope, justice should not only punish wrongdoing but also seek to “mend broken bonds” and address the lasting effects of past abuses.
In his encyclical, he argued that “restorative justice could include restoring dignity and voice to affected communities, healing collective memory and providing support to people who continued to bear the consequences of historical exploitation”, reports stated.
In related news, Kwesi Pratt Jnr, a renowned Ghanaian broadcaster and Pan-Africanist, has said the Catholic Church and Barclays Bank institutions were built on the Transatlantic Slave Trade.
According to the Veteran Journalist, Africans are entitled to part of the wealth of institutions like Barclays Bank and the Catholic Church, due to the historical context of how such wealth was generated.
Kwesi Pratt highlighted that the money that established Barclays Bank is slave trading money, and the wealth of the Catholic Church also came from Africans.
Speaking during an interview with Kafui Dey, Kwesi Pratt explained, “If you look at the World today, the richest institutions are the most resourceful institutions. Ask how they came to accumulate that wealth, and it came through exploitation, the transatlantic slave trade.
You take an institution like the Catholic Church. Where does its wealth come from? The wealth of the Catholic Church comes from the fact that it was a partner to Portugal in the adventurism that eventually led to the transatlantic slave trade.
“Indeed, the justification for slavery and colonialism was provided in the papal bull of 1452, signed by the Pope, authorising King Alfonso of Portugal to go around the world ‘civilising’ people. That is where the justification comes from. This led to the establishment of institutions that denigrated our science, destroyed our science, and devalued our spirituality. There are many things we need to research,” he said.
Kwesi Pratt further added, “Fast forward, this big bank, Barclays Bank. When you hear of Barclays Bank, it was established by the Barclays brothers, who were slave traders. The money that established Barclays Bank came from the slave trade. Are we not entitled to it? We are entitled to it. The Catholic Church is one of the biggest and richest spiritual institutions in the world. Where did that wealth come from?
“We are entitled to that wealth. Just imagine that 12.6 million Africans ended up on plantations as beasts of burden and worked for hundreds of years without pay. Compute that,” he added.
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Pope Leo XIV apologises for the Catholic Church's role in slavery and their historic involvement in legitimising it…#GHOneNews #EIBNetwork #GHOneTV #NewsAlert pic.twitter.com/xUVE4rTJEk
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