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.”
Technology 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. – Vatican News
