Artificial Intelligence and Catholic Social Teaching

This episode looks at a headline news story that is itself all about Catholic Social Teaching: the publication of Pope Leo the 14th’s first encyclical, “Magnifica Humanitas, or “magnificent humanity,” on safeguarding the human person in the time of artificial intelligence.  It was signed by Pope Leo on May 15 and published on May 25.

Here are notes and references:

1. Download and read Magnifica Humanitas online, listen to an audio recording of Magnifica Humanitas, or even download an epub version for use with reading apps.
2. Watch the Magnifica Humanitas presentation video (just under 4 minutes) - visual expression of the emotional power of what's at stake
3. Additional Magnifica Humanitas resources from the Vatican, including infographics, videos and a pastoral kit
4. Video of 6 Catholic leaders discussing Magnifica Humanitas, from the Initiative on Catholic Social Thought and Public Life at Georgetown University (1 hour and 19 minutes)
5. U.S. Bishops Echo Pope Leo’s Concern of AI Use in War - June 4, 2026
6. Pope Leo XIV declares the digital age a mission field in ‘Magnifica Humanitas’ - Ines San Martin - May 26, 2026
7. ‘A Hopeful Document’: Catholic Thinkers on AI Assess ‘Magnifica Humanitas’ - May 26, 2026
8. Can Catholics as consumers drive a better AI future? - Interview with Ron Ivey, a research fellow at Harvard’s Human Flourishing Program and founder of the Noesis Collaborative, a nonprofit focused on steering AI development toward human benefit - May 30, 2026
9. Women Are Being Left Out of the AI Conversation: Should We Care? - Solène Tadié - June 3, 2026
10. AI to Gen Z: Young Catholic Job Seekers and Employees Wrestle With the Future of Work - May 29, 2026
11. Why Protestants should read the pope’s encyclical - Rev. Michael W. DeLashmutt - May 28, 2026
12. Podcast website with full transcripts for this episode and all other episodes

Transcript

Welcome to “Headline News and Catholic Social Teaching,” where we take a brief look at stories in the news, not from a left or right political perspective, but through the lens of Catholic Social Teaching.  I’m your host, Tom Mulhern, and I hope that this podcast will help us grow in our love of God and love of our neighbors.

In this episode we look at a headline news story that is all about Catholic Social Teaching.  I’m referring, of course, to Pope Leo the 14th’s first encyclical, “Magnifica Humanitas, or “magnificent humanity,” on safeguarding the human person in the time of artificial intelligence.  It was signed by Pope Leo on May 15 and published on May 25.

The May 15 signing date was very intentional, as it marked the 135th anniversary of  Pope Leo the 13th’s landmark encyclical, Rerum Novarum, considered the starting point of modern Catholic Social Teaching.

I've read Magnifica Humanitas and I think everyone should read it, particularly Catholics and all Christians.  It is such an important teaching for our moment in history, as it lays out a Christ-centered and human-focused framework for approaching the questions and challenges of AI, something we desperately need today.

The framework it offers builds on to and flows out of Catholic Social Teaching over the past 135 years, and it's presented in a way that both informs and inspires.

All right, I'm going to talk us through an overview of the contents of Magnifica Humanitas, then I’ll refer to some initial reactions to the document, and I’ll end by pointing you to some wonderful resources for learning more about this encyclical and what it means for you and me.

The structure of the encyclical is straightforward, with an Introduction, five Chapters, and a Conclusion.

In the Introduction, Pope Leo highlights the critical juncture that society finds itself in with respect to artificial intelligence.  He does this by sharing two contrasting biblical images.  One is the story of the tower of Babel in the book of Genesis, and the other is the story of the rebuilding of the walls of Jerusalem from the book of Nehemiah.

The tower of Babel was built on pride, the assertion of dominance and uniformity, and the attempt to reach to heaven without God’s blessing, which led to disunity and disaster for the people.  In contrast, rebuilding the walls of Jerusalem in the time of Nehemiah was a collaborative, grassroots effort that had God at its center, one that focused on rebuilding "relationships before rebuilding with stones,” achieving harmony through communion rather than uniformity.

These contrasting biblical images are woven throughout the rest of the encyclical to emphasize a key theme, that AI can be used to advance the common good of all people, or it can be used in a way that fails to respect human dignity and threatens human freedom.  

Chapter 1 reviews the history of Catholic Social Teaching.  Starting with Rerum Novarum published in 1891, Chapter 1 cites key encyclicals and other Church statements and identifies two or three messages from each document that are particularly relevant to the discussion of AI.  Super informative and inspiring.

Chapter 2 provides an overview of the foundations and principles of the Social Doctrine of the Church.  It starts with the dignity of the human person, and from there it takes us through five key principles of Catholic Social Teaching that flow from the dignity of the human person and that provide the framework for our approach to AI.

These five principles include:

1. The common good, calling us to go beyond our own narrow interests and commit ourselves to what is good for everyone, not just for a few.
2. The universal destination of goods, which is the idea in the words of Saint John Paul the Second that "God gave the earth to the whole human race for the sustenance of all its members, without excluding or favoring anyone."  The goods of technology are part of this universal birthright.
3. The principle of subsidiarity, based on the idea that individuals, families, and local communities should not be supplanted or replaced by higher-level authorities or technological imperatives, calling us to a culture of shared responsibility.  
4. The principle of solidarity, the idea that we're all in this together, that the future of each individual is connected to the future of all.  Quoting directly from the text now (section 75), solidarity "requires a modest and shared way of life, the ability to forgo immediate benefits in order to create opportunities for others in the future, and a willingness to challenge habits and privileges – including those related to digital consumption and the use of technology – when they prevent others from living with dignity."  Powerful stuff.
5. The principle of social justice, based on the message of Jesus that the way we approach and relate to the least among us becomes the measure of our relationship with God and with others.  The idea of social justice helps us see that injustice is not just the result of individual choices, it also results from the ways our social and technological systems are structured and operated.

After laying that essential foundation in Chapters 1 and 2, in Chapter 3 the focus is placed directly on AI.  Citing the technocratic paradigm, which pursues the logic of efficiency, control and profit above all other considerations, Chapter 3 develops a number of thoughts about AI, including:

– The need to safeguard the prominence of the human, and the recognition that AI can be a valuable tool when developed and used with the vigilance of a human perspective

– It notes the challenges in asserting responsibility, transparency and governance over AI in a digital environment controlled more by business enterprises than by governments.

– It rejects the emerging notions of transhumanism and posthumanism, which posit that technology alone can take us beyond human limitations.

– It identifies that the authentic way to go beyond human limitations is through the life of God's grace taught and practiced by the Church.

Chapter 4 is about safeguarding our humanity in the age of AI.  Specifically, it talks about safeguarding truth as a common good that is threatened by technological manipulation, about maintaining the dignity of work when AI replaces labor, and about protecting freedom in the face of controlling technologies.

In Chapter 5, the encyclical talks about addressing the culture of power, which it describes as the normalization of war and the growing use of force without limits, the very real and present dangers of weapons controlled by AI, the weakening of the multilateral institutions that were set up to promote peace and avoid war, and a spreading false belief that war is inevitable.  Given this context, Pope Leo reaffirms that the just war theory is now outdated.

In contrast to the culture of power, Chapter 5 provides a practical and inspiring action plan for building the civilization of love, a civilization that builds peace through justice.

Finally, in the Conclusion, Pope Leo proposes what he calls a "sober yet demanding program of Christian life with which we can navigate this epochal change in the light of the Gospel."  This includes contemplating God's plan, partaking of the Eucharist, building a world centered on the common good, and praying in union with the Blessed Virgin Mary.

As you are probably aware, there have been many reactions to and commentaries on Magnifica Humanitas in the first days after its publication.  I'm going to quickly run through a list of articles that caught my attention, and I've provided links to all of these in the notes.

The US Catholic Bishops echoed Pope Leo's concern about the use of AI in war, stressing that lethal decisions must be kept under accountable human authority and never delegated to automated killing systems.

Ines San Martin, an Argentinian journalist based in Madrid, sees Magnifica Humanitas as a declaration that the digital age is a mission field, highlighting its link to Pope Leo's background as a missionary in Peru.

Another article shares thoughts from Catholic experts in the field of AI, who praise the encyclical for its assessment of the proper relationship between humanity and technology, and for what it says about the usage of AI in the specific areas of education, labor, and warfare.

OSV News provides an interview with Ron Ivey, founder of the Noesis Collaborative, a nonprofit focused on steering AI development toward human benefit.  He suggests that, because of our global numbers, Catholics as consumers can influence the direction of AI.  He offers an interesting perspective on the possibility of smaller alternative AI models that are more in line with Magnifica Humanitas.

Solène Tadié, a French-Swiss journalist, makes the case that women are being left out of the AI conversation, to the detriment of all.  She states "The legitimization of the human in the age of AI depends in part on who is present when fundamental choices are made — and on whether the voices that have historically most often championed human connection, receptiveness and empathy are truly heard."

Yet another article shares the perspective of young Catholic job seekers and employees facing the very real uncertainties about the future of work in the AI world.  It is a very unsettled time to be joining the workforce.

And finally, Reverend Michael DeLashmutt has a thought-provoking article entitled "Why Protestants should read the pope's encyclical."  Reverend DeLashmutt is a senior vice president and associate professor of theology at the General Theological Seminary in New York City.

These articles I've highlighted demonstrate the wide-ranging discussion that has already been sparked by this encyclical, with much more undoubtedly to come.

Well, I want to close as I started, by encouraging everyone to both read the encyclical and read about it.  Whether we like it or not, we all live in a world that AI is in the process of transforming in many ways.  This encyclical provides a profoundly Catholic, Christian framework that can and should guide us in our response.

There are excellent resources available to help us learn about Magnifica Humanitas, and I've included links in the notes.

Well, that's all for this episode of “Headline News and Catholic Social Teaching.”  If you found it worthwhile, I invite you to share it with others.  If you’d like to make a comment or send me a message or pose a question, there’s a link in the notes that will enable you to do so.

And I hope and pray that, in some small way, this episode might help you and me live our lives guided by the Holy Spirit through the teachings of the Church.  

Thank you for listening.