Pope Leo XIV released his first papal encyclical Monday, issuing the Catholic Church’s most extensive statement on artificial intelligence and its threat to human dignity in the modern age.
The document, titled “Magnifica Humanitas” (“Magnificent Humanity: On the Protection of Human Dignity in the Age of Artificial Intelligence”), runs more than 42,000 words and covers five chapters on how generative AI and related technologies are reshaping labor, truth, and human relationships. The Vatican released it publicly on Monday.
“Humanity, created by God in all its grandeur, is today facing a pivotal choice,” the encyclical states.
Pope Leo XIV, the first American to lead the Catholic Church, had flagged AI as a central concern of his papacy almost immediately after his election on May 8, 2025. Two days after the conclave, he told assembled cardinals: “Developments in the field of artificial intelligence pose new challenges for the defense of human dignity, justice and labor.”
He signed the encyclical on May 15, 2026, the 135th anniversary of “Rerum Novarum,” the landmark 1891 document by his predecessor Leo XIII that established the foundation of Catholic social teaching amid the upheaval of the Industrial Revolution. The parallel is intentional: Leo XIV is placing AI alongside industrialization as a civilizational turning point requiring a moral response from the Church.
The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops issued a statement Monday welcoming the document. Archbishop Paul S. Coakley of Oklahoma City, USCCB president, encouraged all Catholics to read it.
“In our own day, the Church offers to everyone the treasury of her social teaching in response to another industrial revolution and to developments in the field of artificial intelligence that pose new challenges for the defense of human dignity, justice and labor,” Leo XIV wrote earlier in his papacy.
Vatican News described the encyclical as calling for “the safeguarding of humanity, promotion of truth, dignity of work, social justice, and peace” in the context of artificial intelligence.
The encyclical draws on Sacred Scripture, Church tradition, and engagement with contemporary science. It follows the form of past encyclicals by popes across modern history. Pope John Paul II issued 14 encyclicals during his 26-year papacy.
Pope Leo XIV, born in Chicago, has made the intersection of faith and technology a defining issue since before his election. In the months since taking the papacy, he has addressed media literacy events and spoken directly on AI’s societal effects.
The encyclical’s release comes as governments and corporations worldwide race to deploy AI tools with limited ethical guardrails. No major Western government has issued binding regulation comparable in scope to the Church’s theological framework.
