The first encyclical of Pope Leo XIV – “Magnifica Humanitas,” on safeguarding the human person in the time of artificial intelligence — will be published Monday, March 25.
Ahead of the document’s release, the pope approved the creation of a Vatican commission on artificial intelligence.
Theme was also part of the World Day of Communications message by the Pope this week, in which the Holy Father wrote on the defining issue of our time: Artificial intelligence and the need to steer it for the good of humanity.
A Vatican conference analyzing AI’s impact on media, communities and inequalities was titled “Preserving Human Voices and Faces,” echoing the theme of the Pope’s message. Key speakers charted the impact of AI both in terms of a dystopian future and of hope that people will act in the service of the common good.
One observer at the conference examined the “algorithmization” of contemporary life and the challenges emerging technologies present to preserving human dignity.
Pope Leo met with participants at the conference and encouraged efforts to educate people about AI while leading them to Christ and a “restored trust in technology.”
Pope Leo prays for peace in Middle East as Conditions Worsen
Meeting the head of the Armenian Apostolic Church this week, Pope Leo prayed for peace in the Middle East and Lebanon, which are “once again torn apart by violence and war,” he said.
The Holy See’s representative at the United Nations called for warring parties to show the moral commitment to protect civilians in conflict.
Meanwhile the humanitarian emergency in Gaza deepens as the U.N. reported sharp increases in skin diseases, including scabies and chickenpox, along with a rise in illnesses linked to widespread rodent infestations.
While 90% of Gaza’s water and sanitation infrastructure has been destroyed, 22 hospitals have been bombed just since the beginning of this year. Only half of the hospitals are still functioning, and none at full capacity.
United States to be Consecrated to Sacred Heart of Jesus
In the United States, the Catholic bishops prepared to consecrate America to the Sacred Heart of Jesus on June 11, eve of the feast of the Sacred Heart.
The consecration comes as the U.S. celebrates the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence on July 4.
Parishes and individual Catholics are being invited to take part through 250 Hours of Adoration and/or 250 Works of Mercy to prepare for the consecration.
Care for Our Common Home on Laudato Si’ Week
As the Church marked Laudato Si’ Week, Pope Leo said during his Regina Coeli prayers on Sunday that to care for peace is to care for life. The annual event celebrates the anniversary of Pope Francis’ encyclical on care for our common home, inviting all people to move from hope to action.
This week a historian discussed how climate change, shifting wildlife and political borders are reshaping Indigenous communities, and why their environmental knowledge matters.
In Canada, St. Jerome’s University in Ontario launched the new Pope Francis Institute, which aims to keep the pastoral and intellectual legacy of the late Pope alive.
The Catholic bishops of Oceania met in Guam to discuss the issues of migration and modern slavery in particular.
Pope Leo Teaches on the Mass, Visits Observatory, OKs Beatifications
At his general audience this week, Pope Leo offered a catechesis on the Second Vatican Council’s teaching on the liturgy. The Mass sustains the Church and, “through the power of His Spirit, (Christ) continues to act” as “He sanctifies and unifies the Church,” the pope said.
Pope Leo later paid a visit to the Vatican Observatory and met with staff, and authorized the beatification of a “founding father” of the modern state of Lebanon, plus 80 Spanish martyrs killed during the anti-Catholic persecution that accompanied the Spanish Civil War in the 1930s.
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