Anna Rowlands: Pope Leo’s ‘Magnifica humanitas’ will have enduring impact
As Pope Leo XIV’s encyclical 'Magnifica humanitas' is
unveiled, Professor Anna Rowlands, theologian at Durham University, tells
Vatican News that such a powerful message—addressing both the benefits and
dangers of our AI era—will leave an enduring mark on the Church and the world.
By Deborah Castellano Lubov
“There is not a tomorrow to begin thinking about these
issues.”
Professor Anna Rowlands, theologian at Durham University in
the United Kingdom, stressed this point in an interview with Vatican News following
the release of Pope Leo XIV’s first encyclical, Magnifica
humanitas: On Safeguarding the Human Person in the Time of Artificial
Intelligence, presented at the Vatican on May 25.
The document, signed by Pope Leo on May 15 — the 135th
anniversary of Pope Leo XIII’s landmark encyclical Rerum Novarum —
was unveiled in the Vatican’s New Synod Hall in the presence of the Pope
himself.
Professor Rowlands was among the speakers at the
presentation, alongside Cardinal Víctor Manuel Fernández, Prefect of the
Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith; Cardinal Michael Czerny, S.J., Prefect
of the Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development; Christopher Olah,
co-founder of Anthropic and head of research on AI interpretability; and
Professor Leocadie Lushombo, professor of political theology and Catholic
social thought at the Jesuit School of Theology of Santa Clara University in
California.
Cardinal Secretary of State Pietro Parolin delivered the
closing remarks before Pope Leo XIV addressed those gathered and imparted his
Apostolic Blessing.
"Magnifica
humanitas" is promulgated in the Vatican (@Vatican Media)
'Absolutely vital contribution'
Speaking to Vatican News on the sidelines of the event,
Professor Rowlands described the encyclical as “an absolutely vital
contribution” for two principal reasons.
First, she said, humanity is facing a moment of profound
urgency regarding the technological issues addressed in the document.
“There is not a tomorrow to begin to think about these
issues,” she warned, “because their impact on workplaces, on labour, on
immigrants, on families, on political society and on conflicts globally is now,
and was yesterday, and will continue tomorrow as well.”
At the same time, she acknowledged that many people feel
uncertain or unqualified to engage with questions surrounding artificial
intelligence.
“There’s a kind of hope that somehow, and the Holy Father
says this in the document, that maybe somebody else will think about these
things,” she noted. “But we have to think about them, and we have to think
about them together.”
The need for spaces where all voices are heard
The theologian suggested that one of the central concerns
of Magnifica Humanitas is ensuring that these questions are
not left solely to private spaces shaped primarily by profit rather than by
human dignity.
“How do we create common spaces,” she asked, “where
particularly the voices of the most marginalized, and those most harshly
affected by the reality of an algorithmic order, a digital horizon, and an AI
world, are heard first?”
The encyclical, she explained, insists that those voices
must be central to any conversation aimed at promoting the common good.
Professor Rowlands also emphasized the Pope’s “unique voice”
on the global stage in raising deeper moral and spiritual questions about
humanity itself.
Dr Anna Rowlands and
other speakers during the launch of the encyclical (@Vatican Media)
Pope Leo challenges society to reflect on key questions
The Holy Father, she said, challenges society to reflect on
fundamental questions: “What do we think human life is? Who are we as human
beings? What vision and goal are we aiming for in our humanity and in our lives
together?”
“He offers us both a very strong set of criticisms,” she
continued, “of the false storylines, the false narratives about what it means
to be human, particularly those that place power and domination over others,
whether in politics, war, conflict, or the economy.”
In contrast to those narratives, Pope Leo proposes what she
described as “a rather beautiful vision of a civilization of love.”
Professor Rowlands said the encyclical urges humanity to
recover a shared moral imagination, especially "a way of seeing one
another and the world that recognizes the inherent value of the human
person."
The text, she suggested, warns against transferring human
dignity to technological tools or imagining that AI could somehow become “more
human” than humanity itself, while simultaneously diminishing our own humanity.
An invitation, to have long-term impact
At the same time, Dr. Rowlands said, the document is also an
invitation.
“We need together to build that civilization of love,” she
said. “And we only do that through fully living into a sense that we are finite
creatures created for love, yearning for justice, and that we create that world
together in participation.”
Professor Rowlands concluded by reflecting on Magnifica
humanitas within the broader tradition of Catholic social teaching.
“Magnifica humanitas is fresh and new because it
is addressing AI,” she said, “but it stands within a long tradition of
encyclicals focused on industrialization, capitalism, the condition of work,
and the meaning of technology for human beings.”
The message of Pope Leo XIV's encyclical, she suggested, is
one that will resonate far beyond the present and will impact generations.
"Magnifica
humanitas" presented in the Vatican (@Vatican Media)
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