Pope Leo XIV promulgates the encyclical "Magnifica Humanitas" (@Vatican Media)
Pope Leo presents 'Magnifica humanitas’ calling for
disarmament of AI
Pope Leo XIV presents "Magnifica Humanitas" as the
Church’s response to the challenges posed by artificial intelligence, calling
for AI to be “disarmed” from logics of domination, exclusion and war. Drawing
parallels with Rerum Novarum, the Pope urges the global community to place
technological progress at the service of human dignity, solidarity and the
common good.
By Linda Bordoni
At the presentation of his first social encyclical, Magnifica Humanitas, Pope Leo XIV appealed for
artificial intelligence to be placed firmly at the service of humanity, warning
against technologies that foster domination, exclusion and war.
Addressing participants gathered in the Synod Hall on Monday
for the presentation of the encyclical, the Pope described the current
technological revolution as an “epochal turning point” comparable to the
upheaval confronted by Pope Leo XIII during the Industrial Revolution.
“Artificial intelligence already touches many areas of our
lives and affects decisions that shape human coexistence, he said, noting that
it is also “dramatically changing how war is waged.”
A new “Rerum Novarum”
moment
Drawing a direct parallel with Pope Leo XIII’s landmark 1891
encyclical Rerum Novarum, Pope Leo XIV said the Church today is
likewise called to interpret the “new things” of the age in the light of the
Gospel and the dignity of the human person.
He explained that Magnifica Humanitas emerged
from extensive listening to scientists, engineers, educators, political leaders
and families concerned about the future of younger generations. At the same
time, he said he had heard “very troubling voices” regarding autonomous weapons
systems and algorithms capable of denying access to healthcare, employment or
security based on unjust and prejudiced data.
From that process of discernment, the Pope said, came a conviction
expressed clearly in the encyclical: “artificial intelligence needs to be
disarmed.”
Acknowledging the forcefulness of the phrase, Pope Leo XIV
said the gravity of the present moment requires words capable of “awakening
consciences and indicating paths forward for humanity.”
Pope Leo presents the
encyclical in the Vatican (@Vatican Media)
echnology and moral responsibility
Recalling the Church’s longstanding support for nuclear
disarmament, the Pope said every great technological power must be accompanied
by moral discernment and public accountability.
“In a similar sense, artificial intelligence now demands to
be ‘disarmed,’ freed from logics that turn it into an instrument of domination,
exclusion or death,” he said.
Quoting Saint Paul’s exhortation to “keep awake” (1 Thess
5:6), the Holy Father warned that peace itself is endangered whenever
technology weakens humanity’s critical sense and moral vigilance.
Yet the Pope stressed that the task before humanity is not
merely to restrain dangerous technologies, but also to build a more just future
together.
“No one rebuilds alone”
Reflecting on his years as a missionary in Peru, Pope Leo
XIV recalled the devastation caused by torrential rains and floods in 2017,
saying he learned there that rebuilding involves far more than restoring
physical structures.
“It means repairing bonds, restoring trust, and reawakening
hope in the future,” he said, adding that “no one rebuilds alone.”
The Pope then turned to the biblical figure of Nehemiah
rebuilding the walls of Jerusalem, presenting the image as a model for the ethical
construction of the digital age.
“Artificial intelligence can be a construction site of
history from within a horizon of communion, in which technical progress learns
to serve human life,” he said.
The human person at the centre
Citing Saint Paul VI’s teaching that authentic development
concerns “each man and the whole man,” Pope Leo XIV insisted that no one must
be excluded from digital transformation and that human beings can never be
reduced to “productivity,” “cognitive performance,” or “mere data.”
“The person bears within him - or herself - a freedom, an
interiority and a vocation to love and worship that no machine can replace or
block,” he said.
The Holy Father called for cooperation among nations,
institutions, technology developers, and those most affected by technological
systems in order to ensure that advances in artificial intelligence benefit the
entire human family rather than “a privileged few.”
A “civilisation of love”
Pope Leo XIV reaffirmed the Church’s desire to contribute
“with humility and frankness” to global conversations on artificial
intelligence, not by offering technical expertise, but by safeguarding a vision
of the human person rooted in dignity, conscience and openness to God.
Inviting all people to become “artisans of hope,” the Pope
urged believers and non-believers alike to work together toward “a more human
and fraternal society.”
Entrusting the initiative to the Virgin Mary, whose Magnificat “sings
of the greatness of God who uplifts the lowly,” the Holy Father prayed that the
“civilisation of love” envisioned by Saint Paul VI and Saint John Paul II may
continue to mature in history.
Participants in the
launch of the encyclical receive a copy of the document (@Vatican Media)
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