dignity and justice". The Pope issued the clearest apology yet for the Church's involvement in legitimising 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 on to 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 a leading efforts for compensation and apologies from Western nations for the slave trade.

''[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 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 have been how a pontiff passes on messages to the world.

In the papal letter - titled "Magnifica Humanitas" ("Magnificent Humanity") - Pope Leo sincerely asked for 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 legitimising 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. (BBC)