Ghana has welcomed Pope Leo XIV’s apology for the Catholic Church’s historic role in slavery, describing it as an “act of moral courage” that was important in the global pursuit of “truth, human dignity and justice”.
The Pope issued the clearest apology yet for the Church’s involvement in legitimizing slavery and its delay in condemning it for centuries.
The apology was published on Monday in the Pope’s first major teaching document of his papacy, which also focused on the dangers of artificial intelligence (AI).
Ghana was a major hub for the transatlantic slave trade when millions of people were captured and loaded onto ships, never to return home.
Between the 16th and 19th Centuries, 12-15 million Africans were shipped to the Caribbean, with about two million dying during the journey.
Ghana has long been leading efforts for compensation and apologies from Western nations for the slave trade.
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The West African nation’s government said the Pope’s recognition of the painful past was an important step towards healing, reconciliation, and a just society.
”[The apology] reinforces the growing global understanding that confronting historical injustices demands truth-telling and moral responsibility as essential foundations for justice and reconciliation,” its statement, released late on Tuesday, said.
The Pope’s apology was delivered in what is known as an encyclical – technically a letter to Catholic bishops, but which over recent decades has been how a pontiff passes on messages to the world.
In the papal letter titled “Magnifica Humanitas” (“Magnificent Humanity”), Pope Leo sincerely asked for a pardon in the name of the Church, adding that it was “impossible not to feel deep sorrow when contemplating the immense suffering and humiliation endured by so many”.
Leo said Church authorities had at times responded to requests of rulers by “regulating and legitimizing forms of subjugation, including the enslavement of non-Christians”.
He also acknowledged that earlier in the Middle Ages, ecclesiastical institutions had their own slaves.
“This constitutes a wound in Christian memory,” he said of the Church’s record.
In April, Pope Leo completed an 11-day, four-nation tour of Africa – his first visit to the continent as pontiff – and where he made several forthright remarks, including lashing out at foreigners who exploit Africa’s wealth for profit.
Pope Leo visited Algeria, Cameroon, Angola, and Equatorial Guinea in April
Ghana said the Pope’s acknowledgment of the “painful history” was significant, at a time the world was having a “deeper reflection” on the effects of slavery and colonialism.
The country successfully pushed for a UN resolution in March, which recognized the enslavement of Africans as the “gravest crime against humanity”.
Submitted by Ghana’s President John Mahama and backed by the African Union, it aims to provide a pathway to healing and the payment of reparations.
It also seeks to address the enduring consequences of slavery, like inequality and racial discrimination.
Ghana, which still has some of the forts that were used for holding captives under inhuman conditions as they waited to be shipped to the Americas by European powers, is due to host a conference in June to discuss the next steps following the adoption of the UN resolution.
On Tuesday, Human Rights Watch said the Pope’s apology marked an important step, but stressed apologies alone were not enough and that real reparative justice needed to go further.
Religious institutions, along with states and corporations that benefited from slavery, should “reckon seriously” with their histories and take part in reparative efforts, the rights group added.
