Leo XIV dedicates an encyclical to artificial intelligence

Pope Leo XIV has issued Magnifica Humanitas, the first papal encyclical on AI, warning against corporate control and urging ethical algorithmic governance.

With Magnifica Humanitas, signed on May 15, 2026, Pope Leo XIV issues the first encyclical entirely focused on the protection of the human person in the age of artificial intelligence. The text falls within the continuity of the Church's Social Doctrine, whose 135th anniversary since Rerum novarum it celebrates, while broadening the reflection to the transformations introduced by digital technology, robotics, and algorithmic systems.

The encyclical structures its argument around two opposing biblical images: the Tower of Babel, a symbol of construction guided by domination and self-sufficiency, and Nehemiah's rebuilding of the walls of Jerusalem, a model of shared responsibility. Leo XIV defends the idea that technology is never neutral, that it reflects the choices of those who design, finance, and use it, and that technological power is now concentrated in the hands of transnational private actors often escaping public control.

The document recalls that AI systems imitate certain functions of human intelligence without sharing its consciousness, bodily experience, or moral judgment. It insists on the need for clear governance, algorithmic transparency, the protection of labor in the face of automation, and warns about the environmental impact of large models. Several passages also address new forms of exploitation related to the digital economy, from underpaid annotation work to the extraction of materials necessary for components.

Leo XIV concludes with an appeal addressed in particular to developers, invited to measure the ethical scope of each design choice, and proposes a "civilization of love" as a horizon in the face of the "culture of power."