19 Aug 2026 Safeguarding the human person: WACC Europe reflects on Magnifica Humanitas
The most recent online discussion hosted by WACC’s regional association in Europe unpacked Pope Leo XIV’s encyclical, whose focus is summed up in its subtitle On Safeguarding the Human Person in the Time of Artificial Intelligence.
Moderated by WACC Europe treasurer Katherine Shirk Lucas, the session brought together Professor Andrea Tomasi of the University of Pisa and Dr Stephen Brown, a former member of WACC Global’s Board of Directors and associate member of the Institute for Systematics and Ethics at the University of Geneva, to offer complementary readings of the 245-paragraph document, followed by an open discussion.
Professor Andrea Tomasi: An invitation to read
Professor Tomasi, who teaches AI for the humanities and the ethics of digital technologies, stressed that the richness of Magnifica Humanitas could not be condensed into half an hour, offering his presentation as an invitation to read it in full.
He noted that Pope Leo XIV’s choice of name was deliberate: it was Leo XIII who, in Rerum Novarum, first addressed the social question raised by the industrial revolution, and the present pope frames AI as the social question of a new one.
For Tomasi, the challenge posed by AI is not primarily sociological or technical, nor merely ethical – it is, at root, anthropological. AI and the internet are reshaping human experience at the cognitive, affective, and relational level, and AI chatbots are designed with anthropomorphic features that amount, he said, to an intentional deception.
He linked this to transhumanism, a philosophical outlook treating technology as a means of overriding human limits, and warned that AI is never neutral: every system embodies the priorities of its designers in what it measures, ignores, and optimises.
He traced the encyclical’s roots through prior Vatican teaching, describing Magnifica Humanitas as a manifesto of Christian technological humanism, readable on several levels: a biblical meditation contrasting two models of building – the Tower of Babel and the walls of Jerusalem – an updated compendium of Catholic social doctrine, and an analysis of AI’s impact on humanity. It extends the integral ecology of Pope Francis’s Laudato Si’ to include, explicitly, the digital environment.
Much of Tomasi’s presentation turned on keywords:
- Safeguard, he argued, is not defensive but promotional – nurturing the fullness of human life rather than merely shielding it.
- Governance means directing AI toward genuine human flourishing, requiring foresight rather than reaction.
- He drew attention to the call to “disarm” AI – a disarmament that must begin, he suggested, with disarming our own mentality of competition, which today pervades not just the military domain but economic life and everyday discourse, and which precedes and produces the armoured platforms we build.
- He closed by connecting the encyclical’s emphasis on truth, education, and spirituality to the thought of the German-Italian theologian Romano Guardini, a recurring touchstone throughout the document, leaving participants with its essential message: the immense power now available to humanity through AI platforms is, above all, a call to the responsibility of each person.
Dr Stephen Brown: Ecumenical reflections on Magnifica Humanitas
Dr Brown offered reflections as someone from the Protestant tradition long active in the ecumenical movement, describing Magnifica Humanitas as an “extraordinary document.”
Pope Leo XIV, he said, has placed the ethical and social challenges of AI on the global agenda in a way no other institution currently could, not only through its content but through the pope’s own participation in its presentation, alongside invited speakers including Anthropic co-founder Chris Olah.
More importantly, he argued, the document restates Catholic social doctrine for the present moment, deliberately recalling Rerum Novarum, with the signing of Magnifica Humanitas coming exactly 135 years after Leo XIII’s text of 15 May 1891.
The first two chapters set out the development and principles of that doctrine, Brown explained. The third chapter deals specifically with “Artificial Intelligence – Technology and Dominance in Light of the Promises of AI,” while the final two chapters – “Safeguarding Humanity at a Time of Transformation” and “Building the Civilization of Love” – contextualize further Catholic social doctrine for the present age while also providing touchstones for evaluating AI.
Brown singled out paragraphs 66 and 67 as among the most striking in the encyclical. There, Pope Leo states that the right to private property is always subordinate to the universal destination of goods and, quoting Pope Francis, that “Christian tradition has never recognized the right to private property as absolute or inviolable.”
The encyclical extends this to the digital sphere, naming patents, algorithms, platforms, infrastructure, and data as new forms of property likewise meant for the common good, warning that their concentration in a few hands creates an imbalance.
Drawing on years of digital justice work within the World Council of Churches and WACC, Brown observed how familiar much of the encyclical’s language felt, with warnings about technological power becoming predominantly private and hard to govern and about influential groups shaping information and democratic processes to their advantage.
At times, he said, the text reads almost like existing ecumenical declarations – evidence, he stressed, not of plagiarism but of a wide consensus already converging.
That convergence pointed Brown to the encyclical’s central limitation: despite establishing that AI’s challenges concern all humanity, its sense of agency remains located almost entirely within “the Church” and an at times near-personified “Catholic social doctrine.” He noted only a single paragraph acknowledging other Christian denominations and one reference to interreligious dialogue.
He concluded that the encyclical deserves close attention and that the task now falls to other partners to explore how cooperation with the Roman Catholic Church on AI and digital justice might be deepened on the foundation it provides.
Discussion: Safeguarding, voice, and influence
The discussion ranged widely. One participant asked Tomasi to reflect on the word “safeguard,” noting its different resonance in church safeguarding against abuse, and whether its choice was political.
Tomasi replied that the term echoes the Italian custodire, used by Pope Leo in his message for the World Day of Social Communications, carrying connotations of care rather than mere defence. This is a responsibility to attend to each person, with the fullness of life as its true measure.
Another question raised the theme of Christians “speaking with one voice” on AI. Brown agreed that references to tasks for all Christians remain underdeveloped. He pointed participants to Chapter 4, which extends Catholic social doctrine to modern slavery, trafficking, colonialism, and the military-industrial complex, themes easily overlooked given the document’s AI-focused title.
A further question turned to influence: amid a concentrated dialogue among powerful actors, how can the churches make their voice count? Brown noted the encyclical’s calls to action are often passive – without specifying by whom – and suggested value in a shorter version with more concrete calls, pointing to Roman Catholic–ecumenical cooperation on migration as a model.
A final question linked the encyclical’s treatment of algorithms as common goods to debates on intellectual property. Tomasi replied that the challenge is cultural before regulatory. A shift in mentality equating technological power with progress must precede real limits on platform power. Brown added that property is not new to Catholic teaching, but applying it to algorithms opens space for civil society voices to find common cause with the encyclical.
Image credit: Alan Warburton / Better Images of AI / © BBC / Licensed by CC-BY-4.0
WACC Europe’s monthly discussions aim to bring a justice angle to communication and technology’s challenges and build networks of informed engagement. The next one will be held at 3:00 pm CEST (Paris/Berlin/Warsaw) on 15 September, focusing on AI and the Social Gospel. Register today.
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This article was initially drafted with AI assistance from a transcript and subsequently reviewed and edited by staff.