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“The magnificent humanity created by God today faces a crucial choice: to build a new Tower of Babel or to build a city in which God and humanity dwell together.”
With these words, Leo XIV begins his first encyclical, Magnifica humanitas – “on the protection of the human person in the age of artificial intelligence.”
The document was published on Monday, May 25, in eight languages. The Pope signed it on May 15, the 135th anniversary of the promulgation of Pope Leo XIII’s encyclical Rerum novarum.
Pope Prevost thus continues his predecessor’s legacy and presents a social encyclical addressing one of the greatest challenges of our time: artificial intelligence.
Pope Francis also addressed AI.
This encyclical is not the first Vatican document on artificial intelligence. In January 2025, the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith, together with the Dicastery for Culture and Education, published the note Antiqua et nova on the relationship between artificial and human intelligence.
The importance of this document, now published in Slovak, increases because Pope Francis personally approved and ordered its publication. He has spoken on the topic of artificial intelligence and its humanitarian and peaceful uses on several occasions, including during the G7 meeting in Puglia, Italy, in June 2024.
However, Magnifica humanitas is the first encyclical, a pastoral letter primarily addressed to bishops but also to other Catholics and all people of goodwill.
“Encyclicals, along with homilies and apostolic exhortations, are part of the Pope’s daily teaching office, the ordinary magisterium,” EWTN News notes, adding that encyclicals “have significant doctrinal weight and are often cited because they are an important source of Catholic doctrine.”
The encyclical will be presented in the Vatican with the participation of the Pope on May 25, 2025.
As summarized by Vatican News, the encyclical Magnifica humanitas is divided into five chapters and is based on the conviction that technology is not “a force opposed to man” nor “evil in itself”. At the same time, however, “it is not neutral, because it bears the face of those who design, finance, regulate, and use it”. Therefore, the Pope calls for “building good” and “remaining human” according to the logic of courageous co-responsibility and communion.
The first chapter – Dynamic Thinking Faithful to the Gospel – presents the Church’s social teaching in the recent Magisterium and in the Second Vatican Council, emphasizing its “dynamic character” (17). Social teaching is not “a manual of principles and norms to be applied” but “a theology of community in history” (27), which helps to read events in the light of the Gospel.
In the second chapter, Leo XIV presents the foundations and principles of the Church’s social doctrine. Among the foundations, he mentions the dignity of the person created in the image of God; the inviolability of human rights, including the right to life “from conception to natural death”; and the recognition of the rights of minorities, especially women, so that they may be truly heard and valued.
Regarding the principles of social doctrine, the Pope lists five fundamental ones. The first is the common good, “the social form of the dignity granted to every person” (59).
Leo XIV is extremely clear on the question of nations: “The promotion of the common good can never be separated from respect for the right of nations to exist, to preserve their own identity, and to contribute their originality to the family of nations.” Therefore, “any attempt or project to eliminate or subjugate a nation is gravely immoral and therefore unacceptable”.
Technology must not be in the hands of a few
The second principle is the universal destination of goods. The Pope repeatedly emphasizes the necessity of technologies not being concentrated in the hands of a small group, thereby further widening the gap between those included in the digital revolution and those who remain excluded from it.
Next come the principles of subsidiarity, which require overcoming paternalism and passive dependence in favor of shared responsibility, and solidarity, a “principle and virtue” that opposes indifference.
The fifth principle of social science is social justice. In the digital era, the aim is to ensure equal access to opportunities, protect the most vulnerable, combat hate and misinformation, and maintain public control over the use of technology.
The Pope calls the attitude towards migrants a “crucial test”. The way they are treated shows “whether the idea of justice is guided by fear or by fraternity.” He therefore calls for protecting the “right to hope” of those forced to leave their country, ensuring safe and legal routes, dignified reception and integration, but also promoting the “right to remain” in their own country in peace and security by addressing the deep causes of migration..
The Pope also looks within the Church. He calls for an “examination of conscience” and listening to “victims of spiritual, economic, institutional, and sexual abuse and abuse of power and conscience” because such action is “an integral part of the path of justice” involving recognition of the harm, adequate reparation, and prevention.
Code of Ethics for Artificial Intelligence
Chapter Three – Technology and Domination. The Greatness of the Human Person Before the Promises of Artificial Intelligence – emphasizes the need to approach artificial intelligence with caution and with clear accountability at every stage of its operation. We need appropriate legal frameworks, independent oversight, and user education.
The Pope also calls for an ethical code based on principles of social justice because “we do not need a more moral artificial intelligence if only a few people decide on this morality.”
It also does not overlook the environmental impact of new technologies, which require enormous amounts of energy and water and interfere with creation.
It is necessary to “disarm artificial intelligence” – Leo XIV continues—to remove it from the logic of military, economic, and knowledge competition.
This disarmament, according to the Pope, does not mean giving up on technology but preventing it from dominating man. “It means freeing it from the hands of monopolies, making it questionable and therefore acceptable, and returning it to the plurality of human cultures and forms of life. Today’s task is not only ethical or technical: it is ecological in the most radical sense because it concerns a new dimension of our common home,” he wrote.
Leo XIV at the presentation of the encyclical in the Vatican on May 25, 2025.
The encyclical devotes considerable space to criticizing transhumanism and posthumanism, which understand progress as the overcoming of humanity’s limits. However, the limit is not a flaw to be removed but an essential part of the human person, as it is precisely in fragility and finitude that the relationship and openness towards God and others mature.
To develop technology by removing humanity’s limits is, therefore, to impoverish the human heart. Humanity, however magnificent and at the same time wounded, “must not be replaced or surpassed.” Technology can alleviate its suffering and open up new possibilities, but it must not deny what is proper to it: “the capacity for relationship and love.”
In the face of artificial intelligence, the real alternative is not between enthusiasm and fear, but between two ways of building progress: either in the service of man and nations or in the service of the logic of power.
In the fourth chapter, we will discuss how to protect humanity during the process of transformation. Truth, Work, Freedom—the encyclical calls for an “ecology of communication” based on truth.
The Pope, therefore, speaks of “disarmament” in communication as well. He calls for “disarmament of words,” thereby reducing aggression in the digital environment, which often serves as a prelude to real conflicts.
According to the Pope, it is essential that the rules by which AI systems select and disseminate information are publicly controllable and do not serve to create hostile narratives.
Leo XIV calls for transparency in content selection, protection of personal data, serious journalism grounded in argumentation and fact-checking, a new critical awareness in the use of artificial intelligence, and the integration of knowledge.
He also demands transparent and honest communication from the Church, especially in cases of injustice and abuse.
Another important point is the new educational alliance, so that the “desire to ask questions” of young people is not lost under the influence of perfect machines that create the impression that human thought is useless. Leo XIV also calls for a focus on school as a place where people learn to “seek and love the truth.”
Dignity of work, peace, and development
In the era of the “fourth industrial revolution,” marked by the digital transition, the Pope emphasizes the need to protect the dignity of work and to build systems centered on people, not just on performance.
Technology can free people from difficult and monotonous tasks, but it must not lead to unemployment in the name of reducing costs and increasing profits. The Pope, therefore, also supports the renewal of trade unions.
Leo XIV points out the need to move beyond GDP as the primary indicator of a country’s level of development and instead focus on the dignity of work, shared prosperity, reducing inequalities, and protecting the environment. Finances serving themselves are different from finances serving development.
Following Saint Paul VI, the encyclical stresses the interconnectedness of peace and development and calls for international cooperation to develop common strategies, especially for the benefit of the most vulnerable countries and populations, since prosperity contributes to peace “only if it is widespread, inclusive, and sustainable”.
Leo XIV and speakers at the presentation of the encyclical, from left: theologian Anna Rowlands and Christopher Olah of Anthropic.
The Pope also places strong emphasis on the family, based on the stable union of a man and a woman. The family is a “fundamental social good,” “the fundamental and irreplaceable cell of every social order,” which must also be supported through employment policies that strengthen stability and respect the human rhythm of life, to safeguard society’s capacity to “build the future.”
Finally, the encyclical addresses the theme of human freedom. In an era when digital platforms are designed to consume users’ time and exploit their weaknesses, it is necessary to strengthen each person’s inner freedom while confronting the risk of social control arising from the mass collection of data and the use of algorithmic systems.
Profiling, predicting, and directing behavior represent a “new power” that can discriminate against the weakest. The Pope specifically criticizes the “architecture of visibility,” which amplifies only what is visible, thereby shaping public opinion.
Overcoming the “just war” theory
Artificial intelligence is also creating new forms of slavery, such as the slavery of the “marked, mutilated, and exhausted bodies” of people working to extract the rare raw materials essential to the technology industry.
Therefore, the fight against new forms of slavery is another “crucial test of ethical discernment” of the digital transformation. Leo XIV emphasizes that “the Church renews her firm condemnation of every form of slavery, of human trafficking, and of the commercialization of persons.” At the same time, the Pope “sincerely asks for forgiveness” for the delay with which the Church has in the past condemned “the scourge of slavery” .
The encyclical also mentions the “new precious raw materials of power,” that is, vital information—such as health data or demographic data—that is used to direct economic strategies. This is a new form of colonialism that transforms personal lives into usable data and makes the digital environment “a space of plunder.”
In the fifth chapter—The Culture of Power and the Civilization of Love—Leo XIV turns his gaze on war: “The digital revolution is changing the grammar of conflict,” and without an ethical approach, decisions about people’s lives and deaths will become increasingly impersonal, with the use of force considered an “immediate and feasible option” .
Behind all these developments is a “culture of power” that normalizes war and re-legitimizes it as an “instrument of international politics,” thereby supporting armaments.
Public opinion today is also influenced by polarizing media narratives and a “disturbing loss of historical memory” that deprives society of a long-term vision.
As a result, peace today is not understood as a task to be built, but merely as a pause between conflicts.
Leo XIV also took a stance on the theory of “just war”.
“Today it is more important than ever to emphasize that the theory of the ‘just war,’ which is too often used to justify any war, is outdated, while the right to legitimate defense in the strictest sense of the word remains intact,” he wrote, noting that humanity has at its disposal much more effective means of resolving conflicts, such as dialogue, diplomacy, and forgiveness.
No algorithm will make war morally acceptable.
Pope Prevost also condemns the growth of the arms industry, the nuclear arms race, and the emergence of new armed actors—including jihadist groups—whose aim is to perpetuate conflicts as a source of power and profit.
His warning against the use of weapons based on artificial intelligence is also clear, because “there is no algorithm that can make war morally acceptable.”
Strict ethical rules adopted at the international level, based on personal responsibility and the protection of civilians, are needed because “any technology that makes it easier to intervene without seeing the face of the other lowers the moral threshold of conflict”.
The culture of power also stems from the crisis of multilateralism and the emergence of a “disordered and conflictual multipolarism.” The law of the stronger is replacing the rule of law; the logic of power prevails over peacebuilding, and the institutions created to protect the common destiny of nations are now weakened.
In this regard, the Pope expresses the wish that the United Nations undergo “profound reforms” to overcome the current crisis of values in favor of the common good.
The Christian is called to respond to the culture of power by building a “civilization of love” and by deciding whether to support the logic of force or to protect peace.
The Pope lists five “paths of responsibility”: disarming words by speaking the truth; building peace in justice; adopting the perspective of the victims and taking a stand, because there are conflicts in which “it is not right to remain neutral”; cultivating a “healthy realism” that seeks feasible paths to peace through deeds, not just words. Finally, he calls for a renewal of dialogue by moving from a culture of power to a culture of negotiation.
“Interreligious dialogue” is also crucial, carrying a message of peace. “Whoever uses the name of God to justify terrorism, violence, or war betrays his face,” warns Leo XIV.
At the end of the encyclical, the Pope invites believers to live with new technologies in the light of the Gospel and to follow the “moderate and demanding path of Christian life” so that even in the age of artificial intelligence, they can bear witness to the “beauty of the magnificent humanity inhabited by God.”
Leo XIV repeatedly returns to the topic of AI.
Pope Leo XIV has repeatedly addressed the challenges of artificial intelligence since the beginning of his pontificate. “This topic is very close to my heart, and it is also important to the Church,” he admitted a few days ago during a meeting with participants in an international conference on artificial intelligence held at the Pontifical Urbaniana University in Rome.
Vatican officials, academics, and representatives of The New York Times and The Washington Post attended the event.
The Vatican also recently established an Interdepartmental Commission for Artificial Intelligence, which is intended to coordinate the Holy See’s approach to AI, its use within the Vatican, and the ethical and anthropological issues associated with its development.
Before publishing his first encyclical, Leo XIV commissioned research into how the Vatican could use AI. His encyclical on artificial intelligence will be released on May 25.
