Pope Leo XIV will publish his first encyclical, "Magnifica Humanitas" (Magnificent Humanity), on May 25, 2026, addressing the moral and ethical challenges of artificial intelligence. The Pope signed the document on May 15, exactly 135 years to the day after Pope Leo XIII signed "Rerum Novarum," the landmark text on workers' rights during the industrial revolution.
The encyclical will be presented in the Vatican's synod hall by Anthropic co-founder Christopher Olah, alongside Cardinals Victor Manuel Fernandez, Michael Czerny and Pietro Parolin and theologians Anna Rowlands and Leocadie Lushombo. The document focuses on protecting human dignity amid AI development and warns against the use of AI in warfare.
"We must also keep a watchful eye on the development and application of artificial intelligence in both military and civilian contexts, to ensure that they do not absolve humans of responsibility for their choices," Pope Leo XIV wrote. He has framed AI as one of the defining moral tests of the modern age, comparable to the upheavals of industrialization.