MAY 25, 2026
Pope Leo XIV releases 42,300-word encyclical calling for AI regulation, warning of risks to democracy, labor, and warfare
Pope Leo XIV on Monday publicly presented his first encyclical, titled "Magnifica Humanitas" ("Magnificent Humanity"), a roughly 42,300-word document addressed to Catholics and "every person of goodwill" that calls for robust government regulation of artificial intelligence and warns of its risks to human dignity, labor, democracy, and warfare. The document was formally signed on May 15, 2026, the 135th anniversary of "Rerum Novarum," the 1891 encyclical by Leo XIII that addressed workers' rights during the Industrial Revolution. The pope presented the encyclical at the Vatican alongside Christopher Olah, a co-founder of the AI company Anthropic.
Pope Leo XIV framed artificial intelligence as the defining challenge of the present era, drawing an explicit parallel to the Industrial Revolution that prompted his namesake Leo XIII to write "Rerum Novarum." "I feel entrusted to oversee another great transformation through the eyes of faith, with the clarity of reason, and with openness to the divine mystery, with the cry of the poor and earth resounding in my heart," Leo said at the presentation in the Vatican's Synod Hall, attended by cardinals, computer scientists, journalists, and diplomats, including the United States ambassador to the Holy See.
The encyclical calls for government regulation of private AI companies, protection and retraining for workers whose jobs are threatened, education to help people think critically about technology, and safeguards to ensure humans — not machines — remain responsible for all decisions involving weapons. Leo wrote that "the growing ease with which autonomous weapons systems can be deployed makes war more 'feasible' and less subject to human control," and called for the application of "the most rigorous ethical constraints" to military AI. The document also stated that the "just war" theory is "now outdated" and that military force may only be used for "self-defense in the strictest sense," according to CNN.
On the concentration of power, the encyclical warned that "when such power is concentrated in the hands of a few, it tends to become opaque and evade public oversight, increasing the risk of distorted forms of development that give rise to new dependencies, exclusions, manipulations and inequalities." Leo wrote that AI "tends to amplify the power of those who already possess economic resources, expertise and access to data," and that small, influential groups can "shape information and consumption patterns, influence democratic processes and steer economic dynamics to their own advantage." The document also addressed what Leo called a "new face" of colonialism, in which data — including health, genetic, and demographic information — has become "the new rare earths of power."