In a massive 245-paragraph document titled Magnifica humanitas, the pontiff warns the world against mass unemployment, the concentration of power in the hands of technology giants, and calls on developers to be ethically responsible.
In a massive 245-paragraph document titled Magnifica humanitas, the pontiff warns the world against mass unemployment, the concentration of power in the hands of technology giants, and calls on developers to be ethically responsible.
Pope Leo XIV has published his first encyclical, which is entirely dedicated to the challenges of the development of artificial intelligence. As Business Insider notes, on the eve of the publication of the document, leaders of the AI industry actively lobbied their interests at the Vatican. In particular, after the presentation of the message, Anthropic co-founder Chris Ola spoke there.
Netizens are already joking about the Anthropic-Vatican partnership.
Breaking: Pope Leo just announced he’s leaving the papacy and will join Anthropic as a member of the technical staff. https://t.co/4BLW1X1S7P
— Mike Sapiton 🇺🇦 (@sapitonmix) May 25, 2026
The pontiff thanked Anthropic and expressed his readiness for dialogue with the tech industry. «I accept your invitation to work together, to listen and to speak, and together to find a way for humanity in this age of artificial intelligence,» Leo XIV emphasized. At the same time, he emphasized that he does not consider technology inherently evil, although he draws attention to the threats from autonomous weapons and the environmental consequences of data centers.
One of the key messages of the encyclical is a warning about the dangers of monopolizing the industry. Although the text does not directly mention specific corporations, the Pope warns that excessive control over computing power and data by large players makes the industry opaque. To «disarm» AI, the pontiff called for applying to algorithms and digital platforms the Catholic principle of the universal use of goods, which traditionally declares the right of all people to natural resources such as air and water.
A separate appeal in the document is addressed to engineers and creators of neural networks. According to the Pope, they bear a special ethical and spiritual responsibility. He warned that AI systems are not neutral or objective, as they often reflect the prejudices of their developers, so each technical choice shapes the vision of the future of all humanity.
The text pays considerable attention to the issue of the labor market. Leo XIV called the possible mass unemployment due to automation a «real social disaster» that could lead to cultural and human impoverishment. In his opinion, the pursuit of greater profits cannot justify job cuts, so companies and governments must prepare in advance for changes by protecting workers.
This is not the first time the Vatican has joined the global debate about the impact of technology on society. Previously, the Holy See has repeatedly expressed concerns about AI and has demanded that its priests abandon the use of artificial intelligence to generate sermons.
