Pope Leo Is Set to Release an Encyclical About A.I. Why Is That Important?

Pope Leo XIV on Monday will present his vision for how to preserve human dignity in the era of artificial intelligence.

He will offer his ideas by issuing a kind of document known as an encyclical, a nearly 400-year-old papal tradition of teaching the Roman Catholic faithful. The document will be Leo’s first encyclical since he became pope last year.

Written by the pope and generally addressed to the whole church, encyclicals impart authoritative teachings about moral or social challenges. They lack the legal status of a papal bull, which is a formal declaration of an article of faith or moral law. But Catholics are still encouraged to use encyclicals to guide their lifestyles and choices.

Popes do not usually attend the presentation of their encyclicals, but Leo is set to present his in person at the Vatican alongside Christopher Olah, a founder of Anthropic, a major A.I. developer, and several Catholic prelates and theologians.

Popes have been writing letters to the faithful since the early days of the church, but Benedict XIV, pope from 1740 to 1758, is credited with having codified the encyclical as it is understood today.

Here are five previous encyclicals that stand out.

1. On Workers’ Rights: “Rerum Novarum”

Issued on May 15, 1891, this encyclical from Pope Leo XIII became a foundation for Roman Catholic social teaching.

It’s no coincidence that the current pope chose his papal name from Pope Leo XIII, and formally signed his first encyclical, “Magnifica Humanitas,” or Magnificent Humanity, on May 15, 2026, even though he is presenting the document publicly 10 days later.

After the upheaval of the Industrial Revolution, “Rerum Novarum,” or “Of New Things,” addressed the needs of the working class and helped kindle a social justice movement. The encyclical defended workers’ rights, including the right to form unions and to earn a living wage, while rejecting both the socialism of the time and laissez-faire capitalism.

Written in 1963, in…

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