On Monday, May 25, Pope Leo made a historic statement apologizing for the Catholic Church's role in perpetrating slavery and condemning the actions of past popes who helped give European rulers the authority to subjugate people.
You might not have heard about this. The statement didn't make a lot of news headlines in the U.S., perhaps because it happened on the Memorial Day holiday. Also, the statement was just one part of the pope's first major encyclical, Magnifica Humanitas, or Magnificent Humanity.
But it was a powerful apology that extended well beyond any prior pope's admission and directly addressed how the Catholic Church provided religious cover for the inhumane practice of slavery.
Learn more by reading the National Catholic Reporter's story below.