Pope Leo XIV will unveil his first encyclical centered on artificial intelligence on May 25, the Vatican said, framing the document as a response to how AI is challenging questions about human dignity. The Vatican said the encyclical, titled Magnifica Humanitas—Magnificent Humanity—will be presented as a text on care for human dignity in the era of AI.
Ahead of the launch in Rome, the Vatican said Pope Leo will appear with Anthropic co-founder Christopher Olah at a formal event inside the main Vatican auditorium. The Vatican’s description of the session and the lineup differs from the usual pattern for encyclical presentations, which are typically held in the Vatican press room with selected officials and invited guests who respond to reporters’ questions.
The document’s formal presenters will include two senior cardinals tied to doctrine and development, the Vatican said. Cardinal Víctor Manuel Fernández, described as doctrine chief, and Cardinal Michael Czerny, described as development chief, will serve as the main presenters, with Olah among the lay speakers at the event, the Vatican said.
Alongside Olah, the Vatican said theologians Anna Rowlands and Leocadie Lushombo will also speak as part of the launch program. The Vatican said Cardinal Pietro Parolin, the Vatican secretary of state, will offer a conclusion, and Pope Leo will make a speech and provide a final blessing.
The Vatican said the encyclical was signed by Leo on May 15, marking it 135 years to the day after Pope Leo XIII signed his major encyclical, Rerum Novarum—“Of New Things.” The Vatican said Rerum Novarum addressed workers’ rights and the obligations states and employers owed workers as the Industrial Revolution unfolded, and that it became a foundation for modern Catholic social thought.
The Vatican said Pope Leo has already cited Rerum Novarum in relation to the AI revolution and expects the new AI-focused encyclical to place the question of advanced technology within the church’s social teaching framework, which also addresses labor, justice and peace. The Vatican’s description ties the church’s longstanding approach to social questions to concerns that it said AI raises now.
The Vatican also gave attention to Anthropic’s role in the technology debate surrounding advanced AI systems. In the Vatican’s account of the launch significance, Christopher Olah’s presence is linked to Anthropic’s identity as an AI company emphasizing safety and risk mitigation, and to a broader expectation that the pope’s position on AI could become a flashpoint in the U.S. policy debate.
The Associated Press reporting connected that U.S. context to actions involving Anthropic in February, when the Trump administration ordered U.S. agencies to stop using Anthropic technology and imposed penalties connected to refusing to allow the U.S. military unrestricted use of the company’s AI, according to AP. Anthropic, AP said, is suing the administration and has accused it of retaliating illegally while seeking to impose limits on how Anthropic’s AI can be deployed.
AP also reported that Pope Leo has made AI a priority and is “greatly concerned” about AI in warfare, including calls for monitoring how the technology is used. In a separate thread of the technology competition, AP said Anthropic’s chief Dario Amodei previously worked at OpenAI before leaving with a group to form Anthropic in 2021, and that the newer company promised a clearer focus on safety in the race to build artificial general intelligence.
At the Vatican launch, the Vatican’s announced lineup—Pope Leo, the cardinals, and the inclusion of Anthropic’s Olah—signals the encyclical is intended to be more than a theological document, with the church presenting it in an institutional setting that also brings widely known AI figures into its public-facing ceremony.