Pope Leo XIV delivered a sweeping condemnation of artificial intelligence-driven warfare during a historic visit to Europe’s largest university on Thursday, warning that the accelerating fusion of technology and armed conflict is driving the world toward catastrophic outcomes. The speech at La Sapienza University in Rome, which marked the first papal visit to the campus since a planned appearance by Pope Benedict XVI was canceled amid faculty protests in 2008, framed AI as one of the most urgent moral crises facing humanity.
“What is happening in Ukraine, in Gaza and the Palestinian territories, in Lebanon, and in Iran illustrates the inhuman evolution of the relationship between war and new technologies in a spiral of annihilation,” Leo told the audience in the university’s main lecture hall.
The pope, an American, was warmly received by the academic community and by some of the university’s newest students: a group of young Palestinians who arrived in Italy this week through a “humanitarian corridor” from Gaza. The Italian government, in partnership with Catholic organizations, has facilitated the relocation of hundreds of Palestinians for study and medical care since the Israeli war with Hamas began in 2023.
Leo met several of the students at the campus chapel and again following his address. He argued that military spending, which he noted had increased markedly this year—especially in Europe—was draining resources from essential social goods.
The pope called for enhanced oversight of how artificial intelligence is developed and deployed, in both military and civilian spheres, “so that it does not absolve humans of responsibility for their choices and does not exacerbate the tragedy of conflicts.” Education and research, he insisted, must move in the opposite direction, valuing “the lives of peoples who cry out for peace and justice.”
The speech expanded on themes Leo has identified as defining priorities for the Church. He is expected to address the ethical implications of AI more comprehensively in his first encyclical, which the Vatican has indicated will be released in the coming weeks.
Among the Palestinians who met the pope was 19-year-old Nada Rahim Jouda, who arrived in Italy just two days before the papal visit to begin studying business science. Sitting in a city she described as unrecognizably peaceful, Jouda remained focused on the family she left behind.
“Everything here is green and it’s not gray and troubles everywhere and miserable people in the streets,” she said. Her mother, recovering from leukemia, and two younger sisters are still in Gaza, where the family was displaced four times during the war and her mother was unable to receive consistent cancer care. “They all rely on me,” Jouda said. “I’m the only hope that they have.”
Leo’s appearance came at a university founded by Pope Boniface VIII in 1303, a setting that underscored the pope’s emphasis on the moral weight of learning and the direction of human progress. He argued that the “inhuman evolution” of technology applied to warfare is a choice, not an inevitability—one that societies can and must reverse.