Pope Leo XIV has released the Vatican’s new encyclical, “Magnifica Humanitas,” delivering a stark warning that artificial intelligence poses a grave risk of becoming a tool for “domination, exclusion and death” unless moral boundaries are established by governments and institutions.
The Vatican is formally entering the global debate on artificial intelligence as nations and technology companies accelerate the development of increasingly sophisticated AI systems with limited international oversight.
The pontiff drew a parallel to Pope Leo XIII’s 1891 encyclical “Rerum Novarum,” which addressed worker exploitation during the Industrial Revolution, arguing that AI represents a similarly transformative era that threatens human dignity.
“Today we find ourselves facing a transformation of similar magnitude, with perhaps even greater consequences,” the Pope stated.
Pope Leo warns artificial intelligence could become a force for “domination, exclusion and death” without moral limits in the Vatican’s new encyclical.
The pope warned of increasingly autonomous weapons systems operating beyond meaningful human control and highlighted how AI systems could restrict access to healthcare, employment, and security through biased data. He compared the governance of AI to nuclear arms control.
“Like nuclear energy, it must be at the service of all and of the common good,” he said.
Pope Leo XIV leads a vigil for peace inside St. Peter’s Basilica at the Vatican on April 11, 2026.
The pope emphasized that merely disarming AI is insufficient, calling on governments and institutions to actively “build” systems grounded in trust and human dignity. Recalling the devastating floods in Peru, he said rebuilding must restore both trust and hope.
Pope Leo XIV leads the Angelus prayer from the window of the Apostolic Palace at the Vatican on March 1, 2026, warning that escalating violence in the Middle East risks becoming an “irreparable abyss.”
The pope also articulated the Church’s broader theological perspective on humanity and technology.
“The person bears within him- or herself a freedom, an interiority and a vocation to love and worship that no machine can replace,” he said.
The Vatican is seeking to inject moral theology into a largely secular technological competition.
“Stay awake,” the pope urged, warning humanity against surrendering moral judgment to machines.