The Vatican has announced that Pope Leo XIV’s first encyclical, Magnifica Humanitas (“Magnificent Humanity”), will be officially presented on May 25 in the Synod Hall at the Vatican, with the Pope himself taking part in the presentation.
According to the Holy See Press Office, the document will focus on “care for the human person in the time of artificial intelligence,” positioning the Church directly within one of the defining debates of the 21st century.
Leo signed the encyclical on May 15, exactly 135 years after Pope Leo XIII promulgated Rerum Novarum, the 1891 text that shaped modern Catholic social teaching during the Industrial Revolution. The parallel is intentional. Just as Leo XIII addressed the social and economic disruption caused by industrialization, Leo XIV now turns to the moral and spiritual consequences of rapidly advancing technologies.
The Vatican has described the new document as a continuation of that tradition, addressing the “anthropological and spiritual challenges” posed by artificial intelligence.
The presentation itself is already attracting attention because Pope Leo XIV will attend in person and deliver the final address — a rare gesture for a papal document launch. Vatican presentations are typically led by curial officials or experts.
Among the other speakers will be Cardinal Pietro Parolin, the Vatican Secretary of State; Cardinal Víctor Manuel Fernández, prefect of the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith; and Cardinal Michael Czerny, prefect of the Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development.
The Vatican has also assembled an international panel that bridges theology and technology. British theologian Anna Rowlands, known for her work on Catholic social thought, will participate alongside Sister Léocadie Lushombo, a Congolese religious sister who teaches political theology at Santa Clara University in California.
One of the most notable guests is Canadian researcher Christopher Olah, cofounder of the AI company Anthropic and a leading specialist in AI interpretability. Olah is known for work aimed at making advanced AI systems more understandable and transparent.
His presence suggests the Vatican aims for this encyclical to take its place not only as an internal Church text, but also as a contribution to the wider global conversation about technology and human dignity.
While the full contents of Magnifica Humanitas remain under embargo until May 25, expectations are already high that the document will become a major reference point in Catholic teaching on artificial intelligence — much as Rerum Novarum became for labor and economic justice more than a century ago.
