On Monday, May 25, Pope Leo XIV published his first encyclical, Magnifica humanitas (“Humanity in all its grandeur”), which reflects on human dignity in the age of artificial intelligence.
The Pope writes that artificial intelligence is one of the greatest challenges facing humanity today.
The encyclical is based on the idea that technology is neither “a force antagonistic to the human person” nor “evil in itself.” At the same time, technology is not neutral, since it takes the shape of those who design, finance, regulate and use it. Technology ultimately serves the goals of those who direct it.
According to the Pope, technology can help, unite, educate and protect society, but it can also divide people, exclude the vulnerable and create new forms of injustice. For this reason, the Pope calls on humanity to “build what is good” and to “remain human” through shared responsibility, the common good, justice, subsidiarity and communion.
Summaries of the encyclical have been published in several languages on the Vatican News website. The full document is available on the Holy See’s website (Visit an external site. The link opens in a new tab.) in English, Italian, Spanish, French, German, Arabic, Polish and Portuguese, among other languages.
Fides will publish a more extensive overview of the encyclical in June, and the full encyclical will later be published in Finnish during the summer.
Fides / katolskakyrkan.se