Pope Leo XIV has used his first encyclical to warn that artificial intelligence and emerging technologies risk deepening global inequality, concentrating power in the hands of a few and creating what he described as “colonialism in another form".
The new encyclical, Magnifica Humanitas (“Magnificent Humanity”), was signed on May 15 and officially released at the Vatican this week, coinciding with the 135th anniversary of Pope Leo XIII’s landmark social encyclical Rerum Novarum.
While the document focuses heavily on artificial intelligence, Pope Leo said the encyclical is ultimately centred on protecting human dignity in an age of rapid technological change.
The Pope framed the ethical challenges surrounding AI through the Church’s social doctrine, particularly principles such as human dignity, solidarity, justice, peace and the common good.
Opening the text, he wrote that humanity now faces a decisive choice: whether to build “a new Tower of Babel” dominated by power and control, or a society rooted in communion with God and one another.
The encyclical stresses that technology is not inherently evil but that AI can never be considered morally neutral because it reflects the values, priorities and assumptions of those who design, fund and control it.
Pope Leo warned that digital technologies increasingly place data, infrastructure and computational power under the control of major economic and technological actors, creating new forms of dependency, manipulation and inequality.
He also cautioned that excessive concentration of technological power risks undermining public accountability and widening social exclusion.
Among the Pope’s strongest concerns was the rise of what he called “digital neocolonialism”, where personal and national data are extracted and exploited for economic or geopolitical advantage.
The encyclical highlights how health records, demographic information and genetic data gathered from poorer or politically weaker nations risk becoming the “rare earths” of the digital age - resources used to shape markets, guide investments and determine political influence.
“Otherwise, the digital age will not be post-colonial, but colonial in another form,” the Pope warned.
The document also criticises transhumanist and posthumanist ideologies that seek to transcend human limitations through technology.
Pope Leo argued that suffering, weakness, ageing, illness and vulnerability are not flaws to be eliminated, but part of what enables compassion, love and spiritual growth.
He wrote: “The mystery of the Son of God entering into our human condition promises something quite different. The living God descends into our history in order to free us from all forms of slavery. He takes upon himself our weakness and transforms it into a setting for salvation.”
In one of the encyclical’s central themes, the Pope called for AI to be “disarmed”, warning against a technological arms race driven by military, political and commercial competition, as well as a growing global “culture of power” marked by mistrust between nations and weakening international cooperation.
“To disarm does not mean rejecting technology, but preventing it from dominating humanity,” he wrote.
The Pope also raised concerns about the use of AI in warfare, arguing that no algorithm can make violence morally right, and warning that increasingly automated conflict risks making violence more impersonal and easier to justify.
Alongside its warnings, Magnifica Humanitas repeatedly emphasises the enduring dignity and beauty of human life.
Pope Leo argued that humanity flourishes not by escaping its limitations, but often through them, describing weakness and suffering as places where grace, compassion and wisdom can emerge.
The encyclical concludes with a call for Christians to navigate the digital age in the light of the Gospel, defending truth, peace, justice and the irreplaceable value of the human person.
