With 'advantage' shifting to Ukraine, Russia hits Kyiv with Oreshnik hypersonic missile.

 Extract from ABC News

By Annika Burgess with wires 

• Topic:Unrest, Conflict and War

14 hours ago

An injured man with his dog takes cover in a shelter after a Russian strike on a Kyiv neighbourhood. (AP: Evgeniy Maloletka)

In short:

Russia is increasingly escalating attacks on Kyiv, unleashing some of its largest attacks on the Ukrainian capital since the start of the four-year war.

Moscow fired its hypersonic Oreshnik missile at the city and is now warning foreigners to leave.

What's next?

Analysts say it appears Russian President Vladimir Putin's "ego is bruised" and he is retaliating for Ukraine's long-range strikes on Moscow. 

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When the familiar sound of air raid sirens blares throughout the night skies, Kyiv residents race to metro stations for safety.

The underground tunnels act as citywide bomb shelters when Russia unleashes hours-long drone and missile bombardments.

But over the weekend they were no match for one of the largest attacks on the capital since the start of the four-year war.

"There were three loud explosions, and after the fourth one, the ceilings in the metro started crumbling," 21-year-old Kyiv resident Sofia Melnychenko told AFP.

"There was complete chaos. Children started screaming. People were panicking."

Hundreds of people take cover inside a metro station in an attempt to stay safe during the missile strike. (Reuters: Alina Smutko)

The massive assault included the use of Russia's powerful Oreshnik hypersonic missile.

It was only the third time the nuclear-capable ballistic missile had been fired during the conflict, prompting condemnation from European leaders who labelled it "reckless".

The Oreshnik missile was used without a nuclear warhead, but Moscow has claimed several of the missiles used in a conventional strike could be "comparable in strength to a nuclear strike".

A trade centre burns after a Russian strike on Kyiv on May 24. (AP: Evgeniy Maloletka)

The escalation in aerial warfare comes amid Ukraine's increasing long-range attacks on Russian infrastructure and industrial assets.

Ukrainian forces have also been clawing back territory in recent weeks, according to assessments by the Institute for the Study of War (ISW), a Washington-based think tank.

Instead of backing down, Russian President Vladimir Putin has been increasing bombardments on Ukrainian cities and warning foreigners to leave Kyiv, with threats that more "systematic strikes" were to come.

Russia experts at the Atlantic Council have noted Moscow was "clearly" in a weakened condition but "a diminished Vladimir Putin could be more dangerous than ever".

What is the Oreshnik?

Black-and-white surveillance camera footage from the first use of the Oreshnik missile on the Ukrainian city of Dnipro in late 2024 was brief but chilling.

Russia's nuclear-capable hypersonic missile a new dilemma for NATO

Analysts say Russia's new Oreshnik hypersonic missile will continue to pose challenges for NATO after Moscow used the weapon for a second time in Ukraine.

Six huge fireballs pierced the darkness and slammed into the ground at astonishing speed.

Residents also reported hearing a "hellish noise" and bright bursts of light during the strike.

The Oreshnik is an intermediate-range ballistic missile (IRBM) that flies through the stratosphere before travelling on a sharp trajectory down to earth.

It is believed to be capable of reaching targets between 3,000 and 5,500 kilometres away.

The missile was named after the Russian word for "hazel tree" due to its appearance when it drops multiple warheads in streaks of light.

The Oreshnik moves faster than most modern missiles. Russia claims it reaches speeds of up to Mach 10, about 10 times the speed of sound, and is impossible to intercept.

In addition to its high speeds the missile can carry multiple warheads capable of simultaneously striking different targets.

Analysts say combining these features makes the weapon particularly difficult to defend against, even with a sophisticated Western system such as the Patriot Missile Defence System.

Russia accused of 'scare tactics'

Both Ukraine and Russia confirmed the use of the Oreshnik over the weekend, which Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said struck in the city of Bila Tserkva in the Kyiv region.

Michael Bociurkiw, global affairs analyst and senior fellow at the Atlantic Council, said Mr Putin claimed the Oreshnik could "pulverise villages".

"But interestingly the hits … didn't seem to cause that much damage," he told ABC's Radio National Breakfast.

Residential buildings in Kyiv are frequently hit in Russian drone and missile barrages. (Reuters: Alina Smutko)

The Oreshnik is a nuclear-capable weapon, but in past instances it has been used with non-explosive "dummy warheads", according to Ukrainian sources.

The ISW analysed footage from the recent attack, saying it appeared to show six sub-munition clusters "with each cluster carrying six kinetic rods".

"Russian forces may have conducted the Oreshnik strike to test and refine their nuclear weapons delivery systems, with one source reporting that the Oreshnik used kinetic energy projectiles in place of a conventional explosive payload," ISW reported.

Cristian Vlas, a researcher with Armed Conflict Location & Event Data, a US-based independent conflict monitor, said the attack was another example of Moscow "intensifying psychological pressure".

"The reported Oreshnik hypersonic missile strike on Bila Tserkva from the Kyiv region is significant in terms of its posturing value, not the extent of the damage it inflicted," he said.

The leaders of Britain and Germany condemned the use of the Oreshnik, describing it as an "escalation".

Kaja Kallas, the European Union's top diplomat, accused Moscow of resorting to "a political scare-tactic and reckless nuclear brinkmanship".

Putin vowed retaliation

Russia has been ramping up its attacks on the Ukrainian capital since a three-day ceasefire expired on May 11.

Putin vows retaliation after accusing Ukraine of deadly student dorm strike

Russian President Vladimir Putin has accused Ukraine of a deadly "terrorist strike" on a student dormitory in the Russian-controlled Luhansk region.

The Ukrainian air force said the weekend raid involved 600 drones and 90 missiles, of which 549 drones and 55 missiles were intercepted.

Damage was recorded in 50 locations across Kyiv including residential buildings, shopping centres and schools, Ukraine's emergency service said in a Telegram post.

Two people were killed in Kyiv, two more in the surrounding area, and at least 100 people were wounded in the attack.

Russia said the attack was in retaliation for a drone strike on a college dormitory in Russian-occupied eastern Ukraine, which killed at least 21 people.

Ukraine denied targeting civilians, saying it had hit a Russian drone unit stationed in the area.

"We have no way of being able to prove that Ukraine struck that dormitory," Mr Bociurkiw said.

But Mr Putin's "ego has been bruised", he added.

"He's trying to prove to his own people that Russia is strong, Russia can retaliate,"

he said.

Vladimir Putin has accused Ukraine of targeting civilians. (Reuters via Sputnik: Gavriil Grigorov)

In recent months, Ukraine has been showcasing its new domestically developed long-range arsenal, increasingly striking Russian military production sites and energy infrastructure more than a thousand kilometres from the Ukrainian border.

"The Ukrainians now have a series of different drone types that can go large distances, as well as their own indigenously made cruise missile called the Flamingo that can reach deep into Russian territory," said Matthew Sussex, Russia expert from the ANU's Strategic and Defence Studies Centre.

Residents of Krasnogorsk, in the Moscow region, survey damage caused by a Ukrainian drone. (Reuters)

Last month Ukraine also managed to gain back more land than Russia seized.

It was the first time Moscow suffered a net loss of territory since August 2024, according to ISW analysts.

The researchers observed evidence that Russian forces suffered a net loss of 116 square kilometres during the month.

"It does look like advantage Ukraine at the moment, which means they've weathered the winter and now summer is time for offensives," Professor Sussex told the ABC.

He also noted that Russia was struggling with troop losses, saying "one in 25 Russians has been killed or wounded by this war".

Moscow urges foreigners to leave Kyiv

Mr Bociurkiw said it appeared Ukraine was "doing a pretty good job" at trying to push Russia to the negotiating table before the next winter.

But he was concerned about Russia's ongoing assaults on civilian areas.

"Ukrainians are strong, resilient, but are breaking inside, and I do worry that," he said.

"When I see people up so close, talking to them, their ability to cope is really getting to the limit."

US mediation has failed to broker an end to the war. Each side accuses the other of seeking to escalate the conflict.

Russia said it planned to launch more strikes on Kyiv, including on its "decision-making centres", and repeated a call for foreign citizens and diplomats to leave the city.

Kyiv has been bearing the brunt of Russia's escalating bombardments on Ukrainian cities. (Reuters: Thomas Peter)

Western diplomatic missions in the city have rebuffed the warning.

A spokesperson for France's foreign ministry said they were "used to Putin's threats" and evacuating was "out of the question".

The European Union's ambassador in Kyiv said on Facebook: "We are not going anywhere."

Ukraine described Russia's threats as "rhetoric".

"We are now telling our partners that they should not give in to all this Russian blackmail," Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andriy Sybiga said.

ABC/Wires

A century on from Miles Davis’s birth, his legacy still shapes jazz.

Extract from ABC News

• By Ria Andriani

• ABC Jazz

• Topic:Jazz

6 minutes ago

From bebop to fusion and beyond, Miles Davis continually reinvented his sound over a five‑decade career. (Getty Images: Express Newspapers)

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Within the pantheon of jazz, Miles Davis has assumed an almost godlike position.

The trumpeter, who was born 100 years ago on May 26, was a player who kept his place at the bleeding edge of jazz throughout his five-decade career.

He played with legendary figures from Charlie Parker to John Coltrane, and many of jazz's leading names today count him among their mentors.

His 1959 album Kind of Blue proved to be seminal in the history of jazz.

"Davis built musical foundations, but he was just as happy to knock those very pillars in the music down if they were impeding his journey as an artist," says Jazz Legends presenter Eric Ajaye.

A consummate artist with a "takes no prisoners" attitude, Davis didn't play to his fans' whims. 

He even had a nickname, "the dark prince", Ajaye says.

"People ask me: 'Why don't you play this?' Go buy the record. What you like is on the record," Davis was recorded saying.

Early opportunities

Davis was born in Alton, Illinois to a relatively affluent black family. His father was a dentist and his mother a music teacher.

But growing up during the Great Depression took its toll.

Jazz Legends: Miles Davis

ABC Jazz marks 100 years of Miles Davis. The trumpeter was a towering figure in music, reinventing both himself and the jazz aesthetic from the late '40s and all the way up to his death in 1991. Eric Ajaye explores his incredible career.

Davis's father moved the family to East St. Louis on the eastern bank of the Mississippi, working six days a week to make ends meet.

It was one of his father's patients, a veteran of the Andy Kirk Band, Elwood Buchanan, who became instrumental in Davis's development as a trumpeter.

"It was Buchanan who Miles looked to when it came to developing his tone," Ajaye says.

"Miles sought to imitate the warmer cornet sound that he'd heard Buchanan play, doing away with the heavy vibrato style that was popular in the '30s."

Buchanan recruited Davis to be part of his town band, where the young musician learned everything he could about the trumpet and the theory of how music works.

At 17, he took a dare from his girlfriend to call up a local bandleader, Eddie Randall, to ask for a job.

Davis soon found himself leading Randall's dance orchestra, tasked with arranging and composing, and this trial by fire pushed him to new heights.

Bebop to Birth of the Cool 

Ajaye says that when Davis discovered bebop, "the new sound coming out of New York, led by the fastidious Charlie Parker and the exuberant Dizzy Gillespie, was like nothing Miles had heard before."

"It really turned my brain," Davis told pianist Ben Sidran in 1986.

Davis met Parker and Gillespie in 1945 in St. Louis when he stood in for another trumpeter.

"I decided right there that I was going to New York so I can be around them."

To convince his parents to let him move to New York, Davis enrolled in Juilliard, a prestigious music school.

"But really, it was just a ploy to get to New York," Ajaye says.

His father sent Davis off with advice he took to heart: "Whatever you be, be a good one."

By mid-1945, Davis had dropped out of Juilliard, replacing Gillespie in the Charlie Parker quintet later that year and becoming "Bird's go-to-brass buddy," Ajaye says.

But by 1948, exacerbated by Parker's drug addictions, the pair parted ways, and Davis was looking for a new musical outlet.

For a time, Miles Davis became Charlie Parker's go-to trumpeter, but they soon drifted apart. (William P. Gottlieb/US Library of Congress)

He found it with eight other like-minded musicians in a small basement underneath a Chinese laundry.

Here, arranger Gil Evans gathered players who were enamoured with "the adventurous side of bop, but also the more lyrical and impressionistic threads of contemporary European composers," Ajaye says.

Between 1949 and 1950, the group later known as Miles Davis's Nonet released a series of sporadic singles that initially didn't draw much attention.

That all changed in 1957, when Capitol Records sought to leverage Davis's fame as one of the biggest names in jazz by releasing his back catalogue as the Birth of the Cool sessions.

The album's re‑release became an instant hit, but by then Davis had already moved miles beyond those Nonet days.

Nevertheless, Evans's orchestrating skills would leave a lasting mark on Davis's work, and the pair continued to collaborate on three more albums in the 1950s.

Iconic rise and Kind of Blue

Davis experienced drug addiction in the 1950s. During this period, he moved back to St. Louis to live with his father and eventually recovered.

Back in New York, Davis was courted by two rival record companies: Prestige and Columbia. He recorded dozens of albums for both labels with a different lineup of musicians from a quartet to a sextet.

But the dream quintet he formed at the suggestion of Columbia's George Avakian would be the group that cemented his place in history.

Some of the group's line-ups included pianist Bill Evans and tenor saxophone player John Coltrane.

Legendary saxophonist Sonny Rollins was another erstwhile member of the band.

Davis started trialling his new idea of modal jazz during the group's recording sessions of Milestones in 1958.

Inspired by pianists like Ahmad Jamal and the compositions of Maurice Ravel, Davis wanted to explore "the melodic potential of single modes or scales," Ajaye says.

"Rather than forcing musicians to stay in a specific tonal centre, modal jazz unshackles the improviser [by shifting] the focus from complex chords to a more simplistic harmonic aesthetic," Ajaye explains.

Miles Davis didn't rest on his laurels after the success of Kind of Blue. (Mosaic Records)

This was the context in which Kind of Blue, considered by many to be the pinnacle of 20th-century jazz, emerged.

"It broke new ground, signalling the end of Bebop's reign while setting the scene for the decade to come," Ajaye says.

Davis's quintet disbanded soon after the release of Kind of Blue.

Constantly on the move

For the next 30 years, Davis reinvented his sound over and over.

He also collaborated with young musicians who became jazz royalty in their own right: Herbie Hancock, Wayne Shorter, Chick Corea, Keith Jarrett and many more.

"Younger players were far more malleable than those who belonged to the preceding generation," Ajaye reflects.

Hancock described how Davis "wanted me to discover me."

Gary Bartz, another collaborator, recalls: "If [Miles] wanted you in that band, you were in the band."

This was in contrast to Davis's "dark prince" persona.

In 1969, Davis recorded Bitches Brew, featuring, among others, electric pianist Chick Corea.

It proved to be another of Davis's seminal albums, blending jazz, rock and funk with the new amplified electronic sounds stitched from hours of recording sessions.

"Bitch's Brew was polarizing for many of jazz's traditionalists, but to the wider populace, it was one of the defining albums of this era," Ajaye says.

In 1972, Davis broke his ankle in a car crash, which also left him with a long-term injury.

By 1975, he had all but retired.

Miles Davis's signature sound was his warm, lyrical trumpet playing. (Peter Buitelaar/Wikimedia CC)

But a meeting with his old idol Gillespie galvanised Davis to pull himself together again, according to Ajaye.

In the 1980s, Davis signed with Warner Bros. Records, releasing albums like Tutu, where bass clarinettist and producer Marcus Miller helped guide him toward a new sound.

In the final chapter of his life, Davis blended cutting‑edge synthesiser technology with orchestration techniques that harked back to his Gil Evans collaborations of the 1950s.

An Australian cameo

In 1990, Davis appeared almost by chance in an Australian movie called Dingo.

It tells the story of John Anderson, a young trumpet player who followed his dream from outback Western Australia all the way to Paris.

He was mentored by a jazz veteran, Billy Cross, played by none other than Miles Davis.

"Director Rolf De Heer himself couldn't quite believe that they could cast Miles, but his magnetic stage presence easily transferred itself to the big screen," Ajaye says.

"I was given the opportunity to meet with Miles, and he was not quite the ogre that he was meant to have been," De Heer was recorded saying.

Davis also contributed to the score of Dingo, one of his last projects before he died in 1991 at the age of 65.

Reflecting on Davis's legacy, Ajaye says:

"For much of his musical life, Miles set the terms. Really, he set the terms for himself."

Former Berrivale workers remember Riverland food manufacturing history.

Extract from ABC News

• By Eliza Berlage

• ABC Rural

• Topic:Manufacturing

1 hours ago

For almost six decades Berrivale was a hive of industry, turning locally farmed fruit and vegetables into a wide array of products to sell across Australia. (Supplied: National Archives of Australia )

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Carol Carter and Rhonda Voigt's friendship was forged in a factory that closed down more than a 15 years ago, but they and other former workers are attempting to keep its memory alive.

The pair worked at Berrivale in South Australia's Riverland from 1971 until the final shift in 2010.

"I remember clocking off [at the cannery] for the last time and walking out in the car park … and I was blubbering because it was the end of an era," Ms Carter said.

Carol Carter and Rhonda Voigt, who both still live in the Riverland, organised the reunion. (ABC Rural: Eliza Berlage)

The two giggle over a cup of tea as they chat about the long-awaited reunion they organised earlier this year.

They said the event followed the loss of a few friends and former colleagues and that it was high time to get together.

"I laughed that much that my face was sore by the time I got home," Ms Carter said.

The workers at the reunion in March 2026 posed in front of banners displaying the old Berrivale cannery mural. (Supplied: Our Town Berri)

Cannery camaraderie

Many Australians have probably had Berrivale products in the pantry, from Ezy-sauce to Berri Juices.

Established in 1948 by Berri Fruit Juices Co-op, the cannery and preserving operation at Berri and Monash employed generations of families.

Berrivale was originally a major employer for Greek migrants but as operations expanded it hired more locals. (Supplied: National Archives of Australia )

At its peak, Berrivale was Australia's largest fruit juice producer, employing more than 1,000 workers and processing one in every five oranges grown in Australia.

It closed because of changing consumer preferences and the improvement of refrigerated road freight transport.

"They've done tomato sauce, they canned meat, they did lemon squeeze out there as well as the condiments, and the pickled onions," Ms Voigt said.

Ms Voigt, who worked in administration and was known as "Rhonda from the office", said her family was one of many sent over from Ardmona Fruit Products in Victoria's Goulburn Valley to support operations.

Hostels housed the many migrants from Italy and Greece, while a caravan park out the back hosted itinerant workers from Queensland. (Supplied: National Archives of Australia)

She said the seasonal but secure employment attracted everyone from university students to working mothers.

"That's where they got their money for the school books and kids' uniforms," she said.

"It started their year off with some extra dollars, and they'd come to rely on that."

Ms Carter, a single mother who had moved from the South East to be closer to family in Loxton, took a job on the factory floor after getting some local advice.

"I finally started to make some good money and be able to give my kids a little bit extra," she said.

Ms Voigt and Ms Carter say they want a Berrivale reunion to become a more regular event. (ABC Rural: Eliza Berlage)

From poking Spring Gully Cart gherkins into jars, to peeling onions for pickling, cooking Ezy-sauce and getting stuck on the fruit salad line "if you were naughty", work was made easier with a few jokes.

"When you've got a repetitive job, you sometimes need a little bit of a distraction,"

Ms Voigt said.

There was also plenty of buzz at Berrivale when it became the set for the 2004 Australian movie Peaches, starring Hugo Weaving.

"It was on the peach line that I was working on, but they used their own actors and actresses," Ms Carter said.

"So that was pretty exciting."

Pope Leo warns of AI becoming 'yet another Tower of Babel' in encyclical.

Extract from ABC News

• Topic:Religion

26 minutes ago

Pope Leo XIV presents his first encyclical, focused on the rise of artificial intelligence.  (Reuters: Yara Nardi)

In short: 

Pope Leo XIV has urged governments worldwide to slow the development of AI systems and curb their disruptive effects. 

He was supported by Anthropic co-founder Chris Oah, who said firms like his needed outside scrutiny.

What's next? 

Pope Leo XIV also made a historic apology for the Holy See's role in legitimising slavery 

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Pope Leo XIV has issued a fervent manifesto, urging governments worldwide to slow the development of AI systems and curb their disruptive effects. 

Catholic popes have been urging global leaders to address social justice issues for 135 years across some two dozen major documents that many of the world's 1.4 billion faithful can cite by their two or three-word titles.

Now, Leo XIV has added his name to the pantheon, issuing his sweeping vision on Monday titled Magnifica Humanitas (Magnificent Humanity).

The pope called for "robust legal frameworks, independent oversight, informed users and a political system that does not abdicate its responsibility".

Trump wanted an American pope but not this American pope

Pope Leo does not seek a fight with Donald Trump, or any leader, but he is showing he will not resile from one, either. Too much is at stake.

Invoking the biblical story of the Tower of Babel — where a human tribe is driven by pride to build a tower tall enough to reach Heaven, angering God — the pope said the story shows the risk of any enterprise that "aspires to reach heaven without God's blessing".

"With the heart of a shepherd and a father, I ask everyone to abandon the construction of yet another Tower of Babel and to join forces in building up the common good," Pope Leo stated.

At the Vatican event, Anthropic co-founder Chris Olah thanked Pope Leo for addressing the problems raised by the disruptive new technology. 

He said firms like his faced strong commercial pressures and needed outside scrutiny.

Anthropic co-founder Christopher Olah supports Pope Leo's vision.  (Reuters: Yara Nardi)

"Every frontier AI lab, including Anthropic, operates inside a set of incentives and constraints that can sometimes conflict with doing the right thing," Mr Olah said. 

Anthropic is the company that produces the Claude AI tools.

Pope wants to centre 'moral and ethical arguments' 

"Like other popes before him, Pope Leo is responding to one of the most pressing social issues of his time," John Thavis, a longtime Vatican correspondent who covered three papacies, told Reuters.

"Clearly [Leo] wants to help shape the debate over technology and AI, by emphasising the moral and ethical arguments that centre the human person," Thavis said.

This moment between King Charles and Pope Leo was 500 years in the making

King Charles and Pope Leo have become the first British monarch and pontiff to pray together at a church service in at least five centuries.

A year into his papacy, Pope Leo formally signed the AI text on May 15, the 135th anniversary of his predecessor's publication of Rerum Novarum, firmly tying the newest papal document urging global action on social issues to the papal text widely considered to have done so first.

Anna Rowlands, a British academic and church adviser, said at a Vatican event on Monday, presenting Leo's text, that for more than a century, popes had cautioned that the world "will not be saved by the market".

"Today, Pope Leo cautions that we will not be 'saved' by AI,"

she said.

Encyclicals are one of the highest forms of teaching from a pontiff to the church's members.

Popes choose the topics of encyclicals carefully to highlight the main priorities of their papacies, as the texts, which can span hundreds of pages, often take years to prepare.

Leo, who has adopted a more forceful tone in recent months and has drawn the ire of US President Donald Trump after criticising the Iran war, warned in his text that AI spreads misinformation, prioritises conflict and could lead the world down a path of unending war.

At Monday's Vatican event, he also expressed concern that some autonomous weapons systems have advanced "practically beyond any human reach to govern them".

Pope Leo warns AI spreads misinformation and prioritises conflict.  (Reuters: Yara Nardi)

Mixed record of success for papal encyclicals

Papal encyclicals urging action from world leaders have a mixed record of producing substantive change.

Pacem in Terris, published just months after the 1962 Cuban missile crisis, is credited by some historians with giving moral backing to negotiations between then-US President John F. Kennedy and Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev that led to the Partial Nuclear Test Ban Treaty.

Francis, whose Laudato Si' was the first papal document to endorse the scientific consensus that greenhouse gases are warming the Earth's atmosphere, frequently lamented that governments were not doing more to mitigate climate change.

Mr Thavis said it was usually hard at first to judge whether a papal encyclical would have a lasting impact, as it took time for the lengthy documents to be digested by people worldwide.

"Their ideas tend to surface gradually in the public square, in the media and in grassroots activism," he said.

"I suspect this encyclical will act as a landmark reference point in the ongoing debate over artificial intelligence."

The encyclical is expected to be a "landmark reference" in the AI debate. (Reuters: Yara Nardi)

Pope also makes a historic slavery apology

Pope Leo XIV also made a historic apology for the Holy See's role in legitimising slavery and for having failed to condemn it for centuries, calling the Vatican's record a "wound in Christian memory".

Past popes have apologised for Christians' involvement in the trans-Atlantic slave trade. 

But no pope had ever publicly acknowledged, much less apologised for, the role that past popes played in giving European sovereigns explicit authority to subjugate and enslave "infidels".

Leo raised the issue of the slave trade in relation to what he called the new forms of slavery and colonialism that the digital revolution is fuelling.

What should we make of Pope Leo’s first six months?

Leo XIV has governed through pastoral warmth, quiet competence and careful incrementalism. Whether that approach heals the Catholic Church’s deep, perennial divisions or merely defers them is the question that will define his papacy.

"It is impossible not to feel deep sorrow 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," Leo wrote. "For this, in the name of the church, I sincerely ask for pardon."

Shannen Dee Williams, historian at the University of Dayton and author of the 2022 history of American Black Catholic nuns, Subversive Habits, welcomed the apology as a "monumental step toward the kind of essential truth-telling and reparation that many Catholics have prayed and worked to witness".

"The Catholic Church has never been an innocent bystander in the history of white supremacy,"

she said.

"Black Catholics have waited a long time to hear the Vatican speak honestly about the church's leading roles in the trans-Atlantic slave trade and chattel slavery, and thus by extension the enduring systems of anti-Black racism in the world today."

Reuters/ AP