Pope Leo XIV Issues First AI Encyclical, Calls Data Common Good

Pope Leo XIV released Magnifica Humanitas on May 25, a 245-paragraph encyclical devoted to artificial intelligence. The document was presented at the Vatican’s Synod Hall. The pope signed the text on May 15, the 135th anniversary of Rerum Novarum, the 1891 encyclical on labor that shaped modern Catholic social teaching.

The encyclical classifies algorithms, data and digital platforms as common goods and rejects the idea that technology is neutral. It calls for tighter oversight of large technology companies, greater community control over data and limits on delegating sensitive decisions to automated systems.

The Vatican applies the principle of subsidiarity to digital platforms and algorithmic governance, urging decisions about automated systems be made as locally as possible. The document urges transparent algorithms, independent community audits and legal mechanisms that let people challenge automated decisions affecting credit, employment or criminal-risk assessments. The encyclical warns that centralized control of data and algorithmic governance can silence affected populations.

On the role of data, the pope writes: “Data is the product of many contributors and should not be treated as something to be sold off or entrusted to a select few.” The text states that algorithms reflect the priorities of their designers, funders and deployers and that presenting systems as neutral hides those choices.

The document cautions against assigning tasks that require compassion, forgiveness or moral judgment to machines. The encyclical notes that AI systems “do not possess a body, do not feel joy or pain,” and that they can simulate empathy without the lived experience needed for understanding.

Magnifica Humanitas addresses technology in warfare, dehumanization, technocracy, data colonialism, child safety online, mass unemployment, disinformation, autonomous weapons and transhumanism. The pope criticizes attempts to remove human frailty through technology and argues that human limitation shapes moral responsibility and empathy.

Christopher Olah, co-founder of Anthropic and head of its interpretability research, spoke at the Synod Hall presentation alongside Vatican cardinals and theologians. Olah warned that major AI labs operate within incentives and constraints that can conflict with doing the right thing and said outside scrutiny from governments, religious institutions and civil society is necessary. He flagged large-scale AI-driven labor displacement as a potential issue that would require a broad response.

The Vatican moved to coordinate its internal response on May 16 by approving a new AI commission composed of representatives from seven departments of the Holy See. The encyclical stresses moral and institutional measures rather than technical specifications and seeks to extend Catholic social teaching about shared access to resources into the digital economy.