A person in religious attire, wearing a white robe and cap, claps while seated in an ornate chair with flowers in the foreground.

Pope Leo apologizes for Catholic Church’s past support for slavery

Full Episode
50:11

Pope Leo XIV attends the presentation of his first encyclical, “Magnifica humanitas: On Safeguarding the Human Person in the Time of Artificial Intelligence,” at the Vatican, May 25, 2026.

Alessandra Tarantino/AP

Pope Leo XIV released his first encyclical Monday, outlining his priorities in leading the world’s 1.4 billion Catholics. While the focus of “Magnificent Humanity” was heavily on his concerns about AI, the pontiff also apologized for one of the Church’s historic wrongs: supporting the slave trade. Also, Colombia has faced a dramatic increase in violence in the weeks leading up to its presidential election this weekend. And, with the Strait of Hormuz having now been closed for 88 days, the impact of the closure, along with the US-Israel war with Iran that triggered it, is intensifying rifts among Gulf countries. Plus, The World takes a spin through Dubai’s vinyl-collecting scene.

In This Episode

Pope Leo apologizes for Church’s past support for slavery
8:09
Colombia’s ruling party could stay in office, despite security situation
5:07
Iran war deepens divisions among Gulf nations
6:33
The UK’s great cheese wheel chase
1:37
FIFA’s no-politics policy challenged by Iran flag lawsuit
3:53
Dominican Republic targets Haitian mothers and newborns for deportation
6:13
Lack of immigrants hurting farms in MA and elsewhere
7:10
The vinyl-collecting scene in Dubai
7:33