The first encyclical of Pope Leo XIV, which would be centered on artificial intelligence, international peace, and the crisis of international law, will not be published on May 15 as initially planned, but later this same month.
Various sources had pointed out that the document would be signed on May 15, coinciding with the anniversary of the publication of Rerum novarum, the great social encyclical of Leo XIII. However, the director of the Holy See’s Press Office, Matteo Bruni, told journalists that the announcement about the document will take place on May 22.
The text is circulating provisionally under the title Magnifica Humanitas, although neither the definitive date nor the title have been officially confirmed by the Holy See.
Artificial intelligence, peace, and international law
The encyclical would address some of the major issues of Leo XIV’s nascent pontificate: artificial intelligence, international peace, and the weakening of international legal structures.
The Pope has already warned on various occasions about the risks of an «uncontrolled» technology and the need to protect human dignity in the face of technical developments that can profoundly alter social, labor, and political life.
The choice of theme is not casual. The Holy See has been working for months on the ethical and anthropological implications of artificial intelligence, especially after the publication of Antiqua et Nova, the joint note from the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith and the Dicastery for Culture and Education on the relationship between artificial intelligence and human intelligence.
A possible nod to Rerum novarum
The initially pointed date, May 15, had a strong symbolic charge.
On that same day in 1891, Leo XIII published Rerum novarum, considered the foundational text of the Church’s modern social doctrine, centered on the labor issue and the social challenges of the industrial revolution.
Also on May 15, 1931, Pius XI published Quadragesimo anno, developing the Church’s social teaching and clearly formulating the principle of subsidiarity. Thirty years later, on May 15, 1961, John XXIII promulgated Mater et magistra, dedicated to economic justice and social development.
The fact that Leo XIV’s first encyclical has been linked to that date reinforces the reading of those who see in this document an attempt to position the Church before the great challenges of the new technological revolution.
The Church before the digital revolution
The possible encyclical on artificial intelligence would fit into a line of growing Vatican concern about the impact of new technologies on the person, work, war, and human freedom.
The note Antiqua et Nova, published in January 2025, warned that artificial intelligence can bring important innovations, but it can also increase inequality, manipulate public opinion, and expand instruments of war beyond human control.
The document also insisted that artificial intelligence should not be understood as an artificial form of human intelligence, but as a product of it, called to serve as a complementary tool and not as a substitute for the richness proper to human intelligence.
A text still pending official confirmation
For now, the Holy See has not confirmed the exact publication date or the definitive title of the encyclical.
The announcement scheduled for May 22 could clarify whether the text will be published at the end of the month and whether it will finally retain the provisional title of Magnifica Humanitas.
In any case, the expectation around the document shows that Leo XIV wants to place a central issue on the table from the beginning of his pontificate: how the Church should respond to a new technological era that threatens to redefine work, war, education, and even the understanding of the human being itself.