This Week: Church Presents Thinking About Artificial Intelligence

By CatholicPhilly Staff Report • Posted May 22, 2026

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…

Source