By Alessandro Di Bussolo and Kielce Gussie
Jan 1, 2027 marks the 60th World Day of Peace. To celebrate this day, Pope Leo XIV has chosen the theme, “Disarming Technology, Serving Peace: Politics as Preventive Responsibility”, according to a press release from the Dicastery for the Service of Integral Human Development.
The Pope wants to highlight the “moral responsibility of those called to act in the political sphere” the statement continued. Furthermore, Pope Leo is encouraging humanity to promote dignity for each and every person help foster peace, beginning with the “disarming of technology.”
Referencing his encyclical Magnifica humanitas no. 198—“there is no algorithm capable of making war morally acceptable”—while also warning of the risks tied to using AI to make military decisions, Pope Leo offers a heartfelt appeal to the entire international community.
He calls for “shared agreements capable of safeguarding human responsibility and humanitarian principles in contexts where human lives and peaceful coexistence among peoples are at stake.”
Presenting the Encyclical
At the presentation of his document on May 25 in the New Synod Hall—an unprecedented document in the history of the Church—the Pope had recalled that those nearly 200 pages were the fruit of reflection within the Holy See on new technologies and Artificial Intelligence, which today touches “many areas of our lives,” influences decisions, and is “radically changing the way in which war is waged.”
“Artificial intelligence must be disarmed”
From all this emerged a conviction that Pope Leo himself described as “disturbing” and which provides the guiding thread of the encyclical: “Artificial Intelligence must be disarmed.”
“I know the word is strong,” he acknowledged, “but it was deliberately chosen because this moment needs words capable of attracting attention, awakening consciences, and pointing humanity towards paths to follow.”
Technology must not weaken our critical sense
Pope Leo emphasized that, for some time, the Church has been committed to nuclear disarmament as a “service to peace and the dignity of the human family.” In a similar sense, “artificial Intelligence now needs to be disarmed,” because, “like nuclear energy, it must serve everyone and the common good.” And “decisions about technology must never be separated from conscience and responsibility.”
In Magnifica humanitas, the Pope reflects on how peace, not merely the absence of war, is justice put into action. But when technology weakens our critical sense, peace itself is put at risk. Disarming, however, is not enough. We must build.
How to direct AI towards the common good
Here the Pope recalled his experience during his years of missionary work in Peru, following the floods. There, he confided, “I learned that rebuilding does not simply mean replacing what has been destroyed. It means repairing bonds, restoring trust, and rekindling hope for the future. Moreover, no one rebuilds alone.”
Only with such an integral vision can Artificial Intelligence be directed towards the common good. Only together—those who design the systems and those who bear their consequences, richer and poorer countries, institutions and individuals, centres of power and the peripheries—will we be able to build a future not for a privileged few, but for the entire human family. – Vatican News
