Encyclical Letter of Leo XIV, 15 May 2026
Pope Leo XIV has published his first encyclical, Magnifica Humanitas, dedicated to the custody of the human person in the time of artificial intelligence. Signed on 15 May — on the 135th anniversary of Leo XIII’s Rerum Novarum — the document places human dignity as the fundamental criterion for evaluating the development and use of AI.
The Pope acknowledges that technology can be a valuable aid to heal, educate and communicate, but warns that AI “cannot be considered morally neutral.” The greatest risk, he notes, is the concentration of technological power in the hands of a few, to the detriment of the common good.
The encyclical gives special attention to education, communication and work — three areas at the heart of the Assumptionist charism — and calls for building an “educational alliance for the digital age” that forms people capable of discernment, free thinking and love.
Read the full text of the encyclical at vatican.va, and the Vatican News analysis here.
Source: Leo XIV, Magnifica Humanitas, 15 May 2026. Vatican News.