Pope Leo XIV's First Encyclical Urges the World to 'Disarm' AI

Pope Leo XIV has made artificial intelligence the subject of his first encyclical, the most authoritative form of papal teaching, placing the Catholic Church squarely inside one of the defining technological debates of the decade. The document, titled Magnifica Humanitas ("Magnificent Humanity"), carries the subtitle "On Safeguarding the Human Person in the Time of Artificial Intelligence." It was signed on May 15, 2026, and published on May 25.

The timing was deliberate. Leo XIV signed the text on the 135th anniversary of Rerum Novarum, the landmark 1891 encyclical on labor and capital issued by Pope Leo XIII — the predecessor whose name the current pope chose. By echoing that document, Leo XIV signaled that he sees the rise of AI as a social and economic upheaval on a comparable scale, one that challenges the Church's social teaching from within rather than sitting at its margins.

The Central Argument: 'Disarm,' Don't Reject

The encyclical's headline appeal is a call to "disarm" artificial intelligence. The phrase is easily misread, so the text is explicit about what it means. "To disarm does not mean rejecting technology, but preventing it from dominating humanity," the document states. In the Pope's framing, disarming AI means freeing it from a mentality of military, economic, and cognitive competition — and discrediting the assumption that technical power automatically confers the right to govern.

Leo XIV is careful not to cast technology as an enemy. According to the encyclical, technology is neither "a force antagonistic to humanity" nor "inherently evil." But it is never neutral, the text argues, because it takes on the characteristics of those who devise, finance, regulate, and use it. That premise frames the document's broader concern: not the machines themselves, but the human choices and power structures shaping them.

The encyclical also draws a sharp line between artificial systems and human beings. AI, it notes, "do not undergo experiences, do not possess a body, do not feel joy or pain," and lack any genuine understanding of love, work, or responsibility. That distinction underpins one of the document's firmest practical limits: "lethal or otherwise irreversible decisions" should not be entrusted to AI systems.

Warnings on Power, Work, and the Young

Much of Magnifica Humanitas is devoted to specific risks. Foremost among them is the concentration of power. The Pope warns that control over advanced AI is accumulating among a narrow group of technocratic elites, a trend he says threatens subsidiarity — the Catholic social principle that decisions should be made at the most local level practical, rather than centralized far from the people affected.

The encyclical raises further alarms about democratic life, arguing that AI can amplify disinformation and weaken public discourse. It addresses the labor market directly, cautioning that widespread job displacement could deepen inequality if left unmanaged. And it singles out the effect on young people, pointing to risks of addiction, cyberbullying, and isolation as daily life becomes more mediated by devices and automated systems.

Rather than stopping at critique, the document outlines concrete directions. It calls for "shared standards of social justice" in AI development; for data ownership to be regulated rather than left entirely in private hands; and for transparent algorithms in high-stakes areas such as credit, hiring, and access to services. It urges educational models that prioritize critical thinking over dependence on devices, and it backs efforts to organize labor around new and emerging forms of employment.

A Vatican Event With an Industry Voice

The encyclical was presented at the Vatican on May 25 at an event that brought together prominent cardinals and theologians alongside the Pope himself. Notably, the gathering also included a voice from the AI industry: Anthropic co-founder Chris Olah was among those who offered testimony. Anthropic is one of the leading developers of large language models, and the presence of one of its founders at the launch of a papal teaching document underscored how closely the Church is now engaging with the companies building these systems.

That engagement reflects a continuity in recent Vatican thinking. The Holy See has issued earlier guidance on AI ethics and has repeatedly urged that the technology remain oriented toward human dignity and the common good. By elevating the subject to an encyclical — a genre typically reserved for the gravest questions of faith and morals — Leo XIV has given those concerns far greater institutional weight.

For a general audience, the significance is less about theology than about a major global institution staking out a position as governments, companies, and civil society continue to debate how AI should be governed. The encyclical does not propose specific legislation, and its influence will depend on how bishops, Catholic institutions, and policymakers choose to act on it. But as a statement of principles from a global figure with more than a billion adherents, Magnifica Humanitas adds a distinctive moral framing to a conversation that has been dominated by engineers, regulators, and investors.

Source: ncronline.org