Magnifica Humanitas, Pope Leo XIV’s encyclical on artificial intelligence

Pope Leo XIV has published "Magnifica Humanitas", his first encyclical, dated 15 May 2026. With the full title "On Safeguarding the Human Person in the Time of Artificial Intelligence", it is also the first papal document dedicated entirely to AI. Although it is a social doctrine encyclical in the broad sense, artificial intelligence is the lens through which the pope updates principles such as human dignity, the common good and solidarity in the face of the challenges of the 21st century. The encyclical is rooted in the tradition of the Church's Social Doctrine, which began with Leo XIII's "Rerum Novarum" in 1891, whose 135th anniversary the pope takes as an occasion to renew that legacy.

The document acknowledges that digitalization, AI and robotics are transforming daily life at an unprecedented pace. Technology is not negative in itself: the pope describes it as a talent entrusted to humanity, capable of healing, educating, connecting people and protecting the planet. However, he stresses that it is never neutral, as it takes on the characteristics of those who design, fund, regulate and use it. The central danger he identifies is that the logic of efficiency and economic profit ends up displacing the logic of human dignity.

One of the key themes of the text is the concentration of technological power in private hands. Unlike previous eras when states led innovation, today it is private transnational actors who control platforms, data and digital infrastructure with resources that exceed those of many governments. In response, the pope calls for algorithmic transparency, equitable access to data and accountability mechanisms. He applies the principle of the universal destination of goods to this new reality: algorithms, platforms and technological infrastructure cannot be treated as absolute private property, and data generated by people is not a commodity to be handed over to a few.

The document also rejects transhumanist and posthumanist currents, which present the technological overcoming of human limits as progress in itself. For Leo XIV, human greatness does not lie in efficiency or productive capacity, but in the ontological dignity of each person — a dimension that no machine can replace or optimize.

In the chapter on truth, work and freedom, the document addresses three fronts.

First, disinformation: AI acts as an amplifier of false narratives and those who control platforms have an unprecedented ability to shape the collective perception of reality, which the pope considers a direct threat to democracy; he proposes an "ecology of communication" that guarantees transparency in algorithms and reinforces journalism and education as counterweights.

Second, work: automation must be measured not only in efficiency but in its effect on labour dignity and the right to sufficient remuneration, and calls for active professional retraining policies.

Third, new forms of slavery: the pope denounces that behind every AI system there are invisible supply chains — people in precarious conditions labelling data or moderating content, extraction of rare minerals often involving child labour, and criminal networks using digital platforms for human trafficking — and demands that these chains be transparent and auditable.

The final chapter identifies a culture of power that normalizes war, partly through algorithms that amplify polarizing narratives and erode historical memory. Leo XIV notes that AI applied to autonomous weapons systems makes conflicts faster and more impersonal and lowers the threshold for the use of force, and states that no lethal decision can be delegated to an algorithm. Faced with the crisis of multilateralism, he calls for international regulatory frameworks and proposes the "civilization of love" as an alternative: transforming digital interdependence into chosen solidarity, with scientists, entrepreneurs, educators, legislators and citizens each taking their share of responsibility in directing technology toward the common good.

Key points

• Pope Leo XIV's first encyclical and the first papal document dedicated entirely to AI.
• Technology is not neutral: it reflects the values of those who design, fund and regulate it.
• Technological power has become concentrated in private hands, beyond public control.
• Data and digital platforms must be treated as goods of universal destination, not as absolute private property.
• Rejects transhumanism: human greatness lies in the dignity of each person, not in efficiency.
• AI amplifies disinformation and threatens democracy; proposes an "ecology of communication".
• Automation must be measured by its impact on labour dignity, not only economic efficiency.
• Denounces the invisible supply chains of the tech sector: precarious work, mining with child labour and human trafficking via digital platforms.
• No lethal decision can be delegated to an algorithm; AI in weaponry lowers the threshold for the use of force.
• Proposes the "civilization of love" as an alternative to the culture of digital power.