Pope Leo XIV published an encyclical titled Magnifica Humanitas on May 15, 2026, addressing the safeguarding of the human person in the age of artificial intelligence [1, 2]. The document draws on the Catholic Church’s social teaching tradition, beginning with Pope Leo XIII’s 1891 Rerum novarum encyclical, to tackle present-day AI challenges with emphasis on human dignity, justice, labor, and AI governance [1, 3, 2].

The encyclical explores themes including the human person as made in the image of God, social doctrine principles such as the common good, solidarity, subsidiarity, and social justice. It also addresses the technological paradigm shift, the need for responsibility and transparency in AI, and warnings against transhumanism and posthumanism risks [1, 2]. It explicitly cautions against dependencies on technology, commercialization leading to new forms of slavery, the normalization of war including AI weaponry, and a growing multilateralism crisis [1, 2].

At a meeting with the College of Cardinals, Pope Leo XIV explained that he chose his papal name to honor Pope Leo XIII’s focus on social teaching during the first industrial revolution. He said, "In our own day, the Church offers... the treasury of her social teaching in response to another industrial revolution and to developments in the field of artificial intelligence that pose new challenges for the defence of human dignity, justice, and labour" [3].

Section 98 of the encyclical discusses the interpretability challenge of large language models and other AI systems. It notes that these systems evolve rapidly, human understanding of their internal workings is limited, and current AI is "more ‘cultivated’ than ‘built,' for developers do not directly design every detail, but instead create a framework within which the intelligence ‘grows’" [3].

Magnifica Humanitas also underscores the dignity of work during the digital transition and highlights education’s vital role. It calls for an educational alliance to guide society through AI transformation [1, 2].

Commentary and reflections on the encyclical, including its treatment of AI system interpretability, were published on May 25, 2026 [3].