By Francis X. Rocca
Publication Date: 2026-05-25 12:16:00
The Vatican tends to “think in centuries,” as one aphorism goes. But Pope Leo Magnifica Humanitas“to protect the human person in the age of artificial intelligence.” Leo managed to create a massive educational document on AI while college students are still booing graduation speeches about how the technology will change the world. Compare that to his 19th-century namesake, Pope Leo XIII, who did not publish an encyclical on the Industrial Revolution until more than a century after it began.
In Magnifica Humanitas (“Great Humanity”), Leo attempts to balance alarm with hope. He compiles a long and graphic list of the dangers posed by AI, but insists that the technology is a “gift that can alleviate suffering and open up new possibilities” – as long as it is guided by humane values and not monopolistic interests. As for the specifics…
