Originally published at The Crux
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In his landmark document, Magnifica Humanitas, Pope Leo XIV acknowledged the Church’s long failure to condemn slavery as a “wound in Christian memory.”
“It is impossible not to feel deep sorrow,” Leo XIV wrote in his encyclical letter, “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.”
“For this,” Leo wrote, “in the name of the Church, I sincerely ask for pardon.”
The apology has stirred global discussion, but for those on the front lines of modern exploitation, the question remains: Do his words change the reality on the ground?
“For many Africans, descendants of enslaved peoples, and survivors of exploitation today, this apology matters profoundly,” said Sister Leonida Katunge, a renowned African religious sister of the Sisters of St. Joseph and an anti-trafficking advocate who leads what she calls an “Army against Human Trafficking.”
“But apologies alone are never enough,” the religious told Crux Now . “Repentance must become structural,” she said. “We need theological conversion, economic justice, institutional reforms, and pastoral action.”
“The Church,” Katunge said, “must now move from confession to restoration,”
In a wide-ranging interview with Crux Now, the
