Pope Leo XIV is set to unveil his first encyclical focused on artificial intelligence on May 25, with the Vatican planning a formal presentation of the document centered on what it described as the care of human dignity in the era of AI. The Vatican said the launch will include Pope Leo and Anthropic co-founder Christopher Olah, with additional participation from senior church officials and theologians. The program will be held not in the usual Vatican press room setting but in the main Vatican auditorium.
The Vatican said the encyclical, Magnifica Humanitas (Magnificent Humanity), was signed by Pope Leo on May 15, marking 135 years to the day after his namesake, Pope Leo XIII, signed the social teaching encyclical “Rerum Novarum.” The Vatican said Rerum Novarum addressed workers’ rights and set out the obligations that states and employers owed workers during the Industrial Revolution. It said Pope Leo has already cited Rerum Novarum in relation to the AI revolution and expects the new encyclical to place AI within the church’s wider social teaching framework, which also covers labor, justice and peace.
According to the Vatican announcement, Pope Leo will deliver a speech and give a final blessing after the conclusion of the event. Cardinal Pietro Parolin, the Vatican secretary of state, will provide the conclusion. Cardinal Víctor Manuel Fernández and Cardinal Michael Czerny—described by the Vatican as the doctrine and development chiefs—will serve as the main presenters.
The Vatican said the launch will include not only the cardinals but also a set of lay and academic participants. The program will feature Olah among lay speakers, alongside theologians Anna Rowlands and Leocadie Lushombo. The Vatican said this “all-star cast” will be brought out for the formal auditorium presentation, differing from presentations normally handled in the Vatican press room with invited guests and officials who answer reporters’ questions.
The choice of Anthropic co-founder Christopher Olah for the event underscores the company’s prominence in the ongoing debate over AI safety and its use. Anthropic has described itself as emphasizing safety and risk mitigation, and the AP said Olah’s presence at the Vatican is significant. The AP said it could also make the pope’s AI stance a new flashpoint with the Trump administration, given recent U.S. actions affecting Anthropic.
The AP reported that in February, the Trump administration ordered all U.S. agencies to stop using Anthropic’s AI technology and imposed other penalties for refusing to allow the U.S. military unrestricted use of its AI. It added that Anthropic is suing the administration, accusing it of retaliating illegally over the company’s attempt to impose limits on how its technology can be deployed.
Pope Leo has made AI a priority during his young pontificate, the AP reported, expressing particular concern about AI in warfare and calling for monitoring of how the technology is used. The Vatican announcement tying the encyclical launch to that concern sets the document’s emphasis on dignity and governance inside broader public discussions over what limits should apply to AI systems, including those with military applications.
The AP also described the relationship between Anthropic’s origins and its approach to AI safety. It said Anthropic’s chief Dario Amodei had worked at OpenAI before he and a group left to form Anthropic in 2021, citing a disagreement with OpenAI chief Sam Altman about AI safety. The AP said Anthropic has promised a clearer focus on the safety of “artificial general intelligence,” a type of technology both San Francisco firms aim to build.