Pope Leo XIV released his first encyclical, 'Magnifica Humanitas,' on May 25 in Rome, with Anthropic co-founder Dario Amodei present at the announcement. The 40,000-word document demands AI be 'disarmed' and redirected toward the common good.
The encyclical is not a soft pastoral letter. It delivers direct attacks on AI-powered autonomous weapons, neo-colonial data extraction practices, and the concentration of patents, algorithms, platforms, infrastructure, and data in the hands of a few. Leo chose the word 'disarmament' deliberately, calling it language strong enough to 'awaken consciences.'
What makes this worth reading in full is the collision of institutions: the oldest continuous moral authority in the West, sitting next to a Silicon Valley AI founder, issuing binding Catholic doctrine on algorithmic power. The theological framing of AI as an 'instrument of domination, exclusion, and death' raises questions about what Amodei's presence at the announcement was meant to signal.
[READ ORIGINAL →]