135 years ago, Leo XIII responded to the challenges of the Industrial Revolution with Rerum Novarum. Now, his successor, Leo XIV, presents a new “social charter” for the digital age: the encyclical Magnifica Humanitas. More than a document on artificial intelligence (AI), it is an innovative magisterium that redefines the language and content of the Church’s message for the twenty-first century. Below are the points that illustrate how the Pope updates the Christian perspective of the world.
Innovations in content
1. The centrality of the human: The Pope speaks of AI, but focuses on the person. While technology is mentioned 14 times, the word “dignity” appears 98 times and “person” 158 times. The title Humanitas is already a manifesto: the debate is not technical, but anthropological.
2. Overcoming the technocratic paradigm: One of the greatest warnings is against the logic that converts efficiency into the “supreme value.” Leo XIV denounces the temptation to see ourselves as “projects to be optimized” and AIs that, in imitating humans, threaten to reduce their mystery to mere data.
3. The end of just war theory: By declaring the theory of “just war” obsolete, the encyclical innovates in social doctrine. Faced with autonomous weapons and their immense destructive potential, the Pope argues that the use of force must yield to dialogue and diplomacy, and reaffirms peace as the only valid path.
4. Private power as the new “social question”: While power once resided in States, today the engine of innovation is found in large technology companies. The encyclical warns that these private entities exercise sovereignty over data and decisions, impose new forms of social exclusion, and demand a new ethical framework.
5. A historic request for forgiveness: In an unprecedented gesture, Leo XIV asks forgiveness for the Church’s delay in condemning slavery in the past. This gesture of institutional humility seeks to purify memory and strengthen the urgency of combating “new digital enslavements.”
6. The “disarming” of Artificial Intelligence: The Pope introduces a solid and original concept by arguing that AI should be “disarmed.” As he did with nuclear weapons, the Church advocates for public oversight and moral discernment regarding a technology that, without controls and counterbalances, could worsen injustice.
Innovations in language
1. The Tower of Babel versus Jerusalem: Instead of technical jargon, Leo XIV uses the biblical metaphor of the Tower of Babel (which generates confusion) against the reconstruction of Jerusalem (which requires patience and collective effort). This alludes to humanity’s fundamental choice: to build a world of domination or a civilization of love.
2. Glossary of the digital world: The Church does not shy away from using the language of our time. The document explains concepts such as “algorithm” (defined as a series of step-by-step instructions), “AI alignment” and “technocratic paradigm,” and demonstrates that the magisterium understands the tools it analyzes.
3. Inclusive and pluriversal dialogue: The encyclical avoids monologue by citing thinkers as diverse as Dorothy Day, J.R.R. Tolkien, Martin Luther King and Hannah Arendt. Leo XIV invites everyone to the debate, from engineers at Anthropic to victims of digital exclusion, and adopts a language of active listening and collaborative construction.
4. Narrative of the “Civilization of Love”: The tone is not one of apocalyptic condemnation, but of active hope. The Pope invites each person to be neither a “passive spectator” nor a “greedy architect,” but a “builder of the civilization of love.” The pastoral language encourages positive action, not just criticism, so that the digital world becomes a space of fraternity.
With Magnifica Humanitas, Leo XIV demonstrates that innovation does not mean abandoning tradition, but applying it boldly to the signs of the times. By humanizing the debate on technology, asking forgiveness for the errors of the past, and disarming bellicose discourse, the Pope offers a roadmap for artificial intelligence to contribute to the building of the City of God, and not a new and inhuman Tower of Babel.
Frei Betto
Religión Digital / ihu.unisinos