Pope Leo XIV’s encyclical, “Magnifica Humanitas,” was released on Memorial Day in the United States. Since that time, the faithful and people of goodwill across the political spectrum, across our nation and across the world have begun to consider and engage with the Holy Father’s message.
The title of the encyclical, “Magnificent Humanity,” in English, points to the immeasurable dignity of the human person as created in the image and likeness of God. The Holy Father writes on “safeguarding the human person in the time of artificial intelligence,” and this focus is evident throughout the encyclical and its five chapters. Pope Leo XIV writes about artificial intelligence and the broader growth and pervasiveness of digital technologies, not for their own sake, but because our use of them has the potential to serve humanity and assist us as persons striving to grow in virtue, or alternatively, to diminish us by causing us to forget who we are as sons and daughters of God and even become addicted and malformed by new technologies.
Although it is impossible to do anything close to justice to a papal encyclical, I will highlight just a few of the Holy Father’s more crucial points. I also, of course, encourage all the faithful to devote time to reading or listening to “Magnifica Humanitas” in its entirety, for every encyclical is truly intended to be received by the faithful. The word “encyclical,” after all, comes from a Greek word essentially meaning “public letter.” It is easily accessible online, in print or in audiobook format, responding to the desire of so many lay men and women who, despite leading busy lives, wish to make time to hear, contemplate and put into practice what the Holy Father conveys.
Notably, Pope Leo invited the co-founder of Anthropic, one of America’s leading artificial intelligence companies, to join him at the Vatican for the release of the encyclical. In this way, the Holy Father indicated that the Church is truly interested in applying the Gospel and its moral teachings in the world and that those involved in the field of artificial intelligence recognize the need for an ethical approach to its development and growth.
“Magnifica Humanitas” contrasts two biblical images: the prideful and disastrous attempt to build the Tower of Babel with the humble and faithful initiative of Nehemiah to rebuild the Holy City of Jerusalem. The Holy Father clearly wants us all to be builders and contributors to good and holy things in our daily lives, and to especially avoid, in the realm of artificial intelligence and digital technologies, any temptation to pursue forms of idolatry or false self-sufficiency. The image of Jerusalem is the portrait of a city rightly built around the recognition and worship of God and the true practice of the faith. This is what we must continue to do, even in this new era when so-called artificially intelligent machines can respond to us in our own language.
The encyclical, like all encyclicals, does more than simply offer spiritual advice and encouragement to individual members of the lay faithful. It is also intended to guide and instruct Christians and all people of goodwill. First, by articulating the Church’s social knowledge about humanity, and then seeking to identify ways in which the truths about human nature might be reflected in our daily lives in this world, including in our professional lives, throughout our nations and in our law and policy.
The Church, precisely in order to fulfill the Great Commission given by Our Lord, desires to baptize all nations and assist civil authorities and partner with all possible to build a more just and equitable world. In this way, the Church assists nations and leaders, including in the private sector, in the formation of men and women as citizens. And in so doing, the Church and society together prepare us for our ultimate citizenship in that perfect and everlasting political community, which is the heavenly kingdom of God.
Pope Leo XIV, through “Magnifica Humanitas,” reminds all of us of Our Lord’s great love for humanity even as the Church reminds us of the need to carefully and thoughtfully consider how the tools we use may transform our lives and our world for better or worse.
May Our Lord Jesus bless you and keep you ever close to his Sacred Heart, this month of June and always.
