Pope Leo has denounced the 'culture of power' driving the rapid rise of artificial intelligence, warning that the technology must be subject to 'the most rigorous' ethical constraints. In his first encyclical, titled Magnifica Humanitas (Magnificent Humanity), he also apologised for the Catholic church's long delay in condemning slavery, calling it 'a wound in Christian memory'.
The pope, who was born in Chicago and is the first US-born pontiff, presented the document himself on Monday at the Vatican. Among those in attendance was Christopher Olah, a co-founder of Anthropic, a US-based AI firm involved in a lawsuit with the Trump administration over AI ethics.
In the encyclical, Leo referred to 'a troubling revival of war as an instrument of international politics' and said AI was helping to facilitate the 'normalisation of war'. He urged the 'disarming' of AI, stating that some autonomous weapons systems are 'practically beyond any human reach' to control. 'Disarming AI means freeing it from the mentality of “armed” competition,' he wrote.
The pope also warned that power over digital systems, infrastructure and data 'does not rest with states but with major economic and technological actors', and that when such power was concentrated 'in the hands of the few' it tended to 'become opaque and evade public oversight, increasing the risk of distorted forms of development that give rise to new dependencies, exclusions, manipulations and inequalities'.
Olah said the development of AI cannot be left solely to technology companies, urging greater oversight from religious leaders, governments and civil society. He noted that companies like his operate under strong commercial, geopolitical and personal pressures that can conflict with 'doing the right thing', making outside scrutiny essential.
Leo also addressed slavery, writing: 'It is impossible not to feel deep sorrow when contemplating the immense suffering and humiliation endured by so many … For this, in the name of the church, I sincerely ask for pardon.' No pope has ever publicly acknowledged or apologised for the role that popes themselves played in giving European sovereigns authority to subjugate and enslave 'infidels'.
