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Pope Leo XIV’s first Encyclical will be made public on May 25. The title chosen by the Pontiff is Magnifica humanitas, and the document will be dedicated to “the protection of the human person in the age of artificial intelligence.”

This is a highly symbolic choice destined to mark the new pontificate. The Encyclical is dated May 15, the 135th anniversary of the promulgation of Pope Leo XIII’s Rerum Novarum, the text that gave rise to the modern social doctrine of the Church. Just as the Church then reflected on the consequences of the Industrial Revolution and the dignity of human labor, today Pope Leo XIV chooses to address a new revolution: the technological and algorithmic one, which is transforming the face of society, the economy, and human relations.

The Fratelli tutti Foundation views this document with great attention and hope, recognizing in it a historic milestone not only for the Church but for the entire international community. For some time now, in fact, the Foundation has been committed to promoting a serious and interdisciplinary dialogue on the ethics of artificial intelligence, convinced that technological progress cannot be separated from the protection of human dignity and the common good.

It was within this context that the major international roundtable on Artificial Intelligence took place during the latest World Meeting on Human Fraternity, held on September 12 and 13 in Rome. The goal was to examine the anthropological, ethical, and social implications of the algorithmic revolution: from the protection of human labor to data governance, from algorithmic transparency to the risk of new inequalities and concentrations of power.

The Roundtable’s work also gave rise to an important international document signed by scholars, technology leaders, and artificial intelligence experts from various countries and cultural traditions. The appeal states: “AI must remain under human control” and strongly emphasizes the need to prevent this technology from being used for “life-or-death decisions.” View the Roundtable’s work. 

The document also emphasizes the need to build a technological model grounded in human dignity, shared responsibility, and fraternity as a political and cultural criterion. This perspective is fully consistent with the vision of the World Meeting on Human Fraternity, which defined fraternity as “experience and relational intelligence.”
The Encyclical Magnifica humanitas also stands in full continuity with the magisterium of Pope Francis, who has brought the Church to the center of the global debate on artificial intelligence. Pope Francis had intuited before many others that the technological question concerns not only innovation, but touches the very heart of what it means to be human: work, freedom, justice, peace, and relationships.

From Fratelli Tutti to his remarks on the ethics of artificial intelligence, right up to his historic address at the G7 summit, Pope Francis’s pontificate has charted a new course: one in which technology serves humanity, rather than humanity serving technology.
This is another reason why Pope Leo XIV’s choice now appears as the natural development of a path already set in motion: an invitation to the worlds of politics, economics, science, and culture to ensure that artificial intelligence does not become a tool of inequality or domination, but rather an opportunity to build a more just, humane, and fraternal society.

The official presentation of the encyclical will take place on May 25 in the Synod Hall, in the presence of the Pope himself. The full text of Magnifica humanitas will be available on the Holy See’s official website.