Fabio ManganielloAs a non-Christian, my deepest respect goes to the intellectual honesty of Pope Leo XIV.
The Catholic Church had an important role in enabling the transatlantic trade of slaves.
It interpreted an atrocious process of colonization and human exploitation as an act of Christian duty towards infidels that were supposed to embrace Jesus.
Pope Nicholas V in 1452 allowed Christians to invade, conquer, fight, subjugate and seize all possessions of all enemies of Christ, as well as granting them the permission to reduce them into a state of perpetual slavery.
The following Popes (Callixtus III in 1456, Sixtus IV in 1481 and Leo X in 1514) also granted similar rights to Spanish and Portuguese kings.
The acknowledgement of the Church’s role in enabling slavery and colonialism is long overdue but still welcome.
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