Pope Leo XIV's first encyclical tackles AI and human dignity, out May 25

Pope Leo XIV will release his first encyclical, Magnifica humanitas, on May 25, 2026, framing the document around preserving the human person in the age of artificial intelligence. The signature is dated May 15, marking 135 years since Leo XIII’s Rerum novarum, which set the template for modern Catholic social teaching on industrial labor — a deliberate parallel positioning AI as the comparable upheaval of this era.

The Vatican Synod Hall presentation pairs senior curial figures with an unusual outside voice: Anthropic co-founder Chris Olah, who leads the company’s interpretability research. His inclusion alongside Cardinals Fernández and Czerny, plus theologians Anna Rowlands and Leocadie Lushombo, signals the Church is engaging the technical AI safety community directly rather than treating the topic at arm’s length.

The encyclical’s reach matters beyond religious circles. Catholic social teaching influences policy debates in Europe and Latin America, and a papal framing of AI ethics — coming from the highest-circulation moral authority outside governments — is likely to shape political and corporate conversations about deployment, labor displacement, and human oversight.