Pope Leo vs. the Machines of Loving Grace
May 18, 2026
Across two papacies, the Vatican has built up a rich and multifaceted framework for discussing artificial intelligence, rooted in historic Catholic teaching. As yet, the Holy See has placed little emphasis on the catastrophic risks of the corporate race to AI systems that can replace humans in their work, relationships, and decision-making. With these risks coming into focus, Pope Leo XIV’s first encyclical could provide not just theological insights, but practical help for humanity.
The most recent Vatican document on the subject, from the International Theological Commission, focused on transhumanism and posthumanism. This document, called Quo Vadis, Humanitas? (Which way, humanity?), contained the first substantial mention of artificial general intelligence (AGI) in Magisterial teaching. “AGI,” it read, “refers to a future, pervasive technology capable of replacing all computational and operational aspects of human intelligence thanks to extremely high computing speeds... Where specific aspects of human intelligence are consciously weakened or abandoned, AGI could have profound consequences that risk escaping human control.”
