The Pope Just Wrote About AI. Here’s Why Your Parish Is Talking About It.

By Nick Johnson  |  July 1, 2026   |  Faith & Culture

“With the same faith as Mary, let us become ‘weavers of hope’ in our world, so that the presence of Jesus may grow among us and his Kingdom take shape. — Pope Leo XIV”

When Pope Leo XIV signed his first encyclical on May 15, 2026, he was making a deliberate statement. That date was no accident: it marked the 135th anniversary of Rerum Novarum, Leo XIII’s groundbreaking response to the industrial revolution. Now, a different revolution is reshaping our world. One that many have titled the AI Revolution. And once again, the Church has wisdom to give guidance and context to the conversation.

Magnifica Humanitas — which translates roughly as The Magnificence of Humanity — is the Church’s most substantial engagement yet with artificial intelligence and really modern technology. Nearly 38,000 words. Five chapters. A conclusion rooted not in fear or blind techno-optimism, but in the Incarnation. And it deserves our attention.

Not a Tech Document. A Human Document.

It would be easy to assume this encyclical is for engineers or policy wonks. It’s not. Pope Leo XIV goes out of his way to ground the entire document in the deepest truths of Catholic anthropology: that human beings are made in the image of the Triune God, that we are persons called to communion, and that our dignity is not something to be optimized away.

He’s clear that AI, in itself, is not evil. But he is equally clear about the risks. AI systems lack moral conscience. They cannot bear responsibility. They can simulate relationship without offering it. And the speed and apparent objectivity with which they deliver answers can quietly erode the very habits of reflection, discernment, and wisdom that make us human.

A Crossroads Illustrated by Scripture

One of the encyclical’s most vivid passages uses two contrasting biblical images to name the moment we’re in. The Tower of Babel: a project driven by pride and self-sufficiency, ending in confusion and division. And the rebuilding of Jerusalem’s walls under Nehemiah: a collaborative, God-centered effort where each person had a role and a voice, and where unity was the fruit.

The question the pope is asking is simple: Which story are we in? And which one do we want to build?

What It Means for Families, Schools, and Work

Magnifica Humanitas doesn’t stay in the realm of the abstract. Pope Leo XIV addresses the effects of AI on education (including the danger of children losing the capacity for patient, sustained thought), on work and employment, on journalism and the erosion of shared truth, and even on warfare. He warns against allowing AI to make “lethal or otherwise irreversible decisions.” He calls for parents to take responsibility for their children’s digital access. He asks companies and governments alike to be held accountable.

And yet — the document does not end in alarm. It ends in hope. Eucharistic hope. The kind that doesn’t depend on getting the algorithms right, but on the God who became flesh and dwells among us.

Why We’re Gathering

This is exactly the kind of document that deserves more than a weekend read. It deserves conversation, guided reflection, and a community willing to take it seriously together.

That’s why we’re hosting an evening with Msgr. Stuart Swetland. 

Msgr. Swetland brings both theological depth and pastoral warmth to the kinds of questions that sit at the intersection of faith and culture. On August 10th, he’ll walk us through the heart of Magnifica Humanitas — what it says, what it doesn’t say, and what it asks of us as Catholics living in 2026.

You don’t need to have read the encyclical. You don’t need to be a theologian. You just need to be a person — someone who uses technology, loves people, and wonders what God has to say about all of it.