Catholic Church Apologies
Date: 31 October 1992
Pope: John Paul II
Description: Acknowledged the Church's error in condemning Galileo Galilei and recognised his contributions to science.
Date: 1993
Pope: John Paul II
Description: Acknowledged the role of some Catholics in the 1994 Rwandan genocide and expressed sorrow for the Church's failure to prevent it.
Date: 16 March 1998
Pope: John Paul II
Description: Issued We Remember: A Reflection on the Shoah, expressing deep regret for the Church's inaction and complicity during the Holocaust.
Date: 1995
Pope: John Paul II
Description: Apologised for the Church's historical complicity in the African slave trade.
Date: 1995
Pope: John Paul II
Description: Apologised for the Church’s role in the historical marginalisation and oppression of women.
Date: 12 March 2000
Pope: John Paul II
Description: During the Jubilee Year, issued a sweeping apology for the sins of the Church, including the Crusades, Inquisition, antisemitism, and abuse of power.
Date: November 2000
Pope: John Paul II
Description: Apologised for divisions caused by the Reformation and the Church’s involvement in religious wars, including the Thirty Years’ War.
Date: 20 November 2001
Pope: John Paul II
Description: Acknowledged abuses committed by missionaries and the Church's association with colonialism in China.
Date: 24 September 2015
Pope: Francis
Description: Public apology in the U.S. for the Church’s handling of clerical sexual abuse and harm caused to victims.
Date: 8 June 2016
Pope: Francis
Description: Apologised to LGBTQ people, women, and others marginalised by the Church, stating the Church must ask forgiveness.
Date: 1 April 2022
Pope: Francis
Description: Apologised to Canadian Indigenous peoples for the Church’s role in residential schools and the cultural destruction they caused.
Date: 25 July 2022
Pope: Francis
Description: Repeated and expanded his apology on Canadian soil, calling the Church’s role in residential schools “a disastrous error.”