Pope Leo XIV will release his first papal encyclical, “Magnifica Humanitas,” on May 25, addressing the protection of human dignity in the age of artificial intelligence. The document, signed on May 15—the 135th anniversary of Pope Leo XIII's Rerum Novarum—positions AI as the defining industrial shift of his pontificate. The Vatican also approved a new commission on AI ethics, involving seven dicasteries. Christopher Olah, co-founder of Anthropic and leader of its interpretability research, will speak at the launch event, marking the most direct engagement between a sitting pope and a frontier AI lab. Pope Leo XIV, the first American pope, has previously flagged AI as a key challenge. The event ties AI safety research to global moral debates, raising questions about reliance on AI tools like Claude.

Key facts

• Pope Leo XIV's first encyclical focuses on AI and human dignity.
• Encyclical signed on 135th anniversary of Rerum Novarum.
• Vatican establishes new AI ethics commission with seven dicasteries.
• Anthropic co-founder Christopher Olah to speak at launch.
• First direct engagement between a pope and a frontier AI lab.