On May 25, 2026, Pope Leo XIV will present his first encyclical Magnifica humanitas — a document on the protection of human dignity in the age of artificial intelligence. This is not just a church text about new technology. For the Catholic Church, which addresses an audience of more than 1.4 billion Catholics worldwide, it is an attempt to formulate moral boundaries for an industry that is developing faster than laws, politicians, and public oversight.
In fact, the Vatican has entered one of the main debates of the 21st century: who will set the rules for artificial intelligence — states, corporations, military structures, academia, or institutions speaking the language of ethics and human responsibility.
Encyclical on AI: why it is more than a church document
In the document Magnifica humanitas, Leo XIV called for serious regulation of artificial intelligence, warned about the concentration of data and technological power in the hands of private companies, and separately addressed the risks of AI in wars, disinformation, the labor market, and its impact on children. According to Reuters and AP, the encyclical criticizes a situation where decisions affecting human life, safety, and dignity may gradually shift to machines or closed corporate systems.
For Israel, this topic is particularly acute. The country is simultaneously one of the world’s centers of high technology, cybersecurity, and military innovations — and a society that constantly lives within moral dilemmas of security, war, data, surveillance, and protection of the civilian population.
That is why the new position of the Vatican is important not only for the Catholic world. It concerns all countries where AI is already used in medicine, education, defense, media, financial services, and political communications.
Tech giants did not come to parliament, but to the Vatican
The main intrigue around the encyclical arose even before its publication. According to Western media reports citing Politico and Business Insider, representatives of Meta, Google, and Amazon met with Vatican officials in Rome at the end of April 2026, including in the context of preparing the first major papal document on artificial intelligence. These contacts were described as part of a quiet campaign to influence the moral and public framework around AI.
The meaning of this campaign is clear. Technological corporations want to appear not only as developers of powerful tools but also as responsible partners of humanity. They strive to show that they themselves are capable of discussing ethics, safety, human rights, and public benefit.
But this is where the conflict lies. If companies simultaneously create technology, profit from it, control data, and form their own ethical codes, the question arises: who checks the checkers?
Anthropic, Claude, and the struggle for moral legitimacy
Particular attention was drawn to the company Anthropic, known for developing Claude. Anthropic co-founder Chris Olah spoke at a Vatican event related to the presentation of the encyclical and stated that the development of AI should not remain solely in the hands of Big Tech. According to him, external participation of religious leaders, states, and civil society is necessary precisely because even conscientious researchers are under pressure from business, geopolitics, and personal ambitions.
This is an important point. The Vatican in this case does not act as a laboratory and does not claim technical management of algorithms. Its role is different: to bring the conversation about AI back from the language of efficiency, profit, and the race for computing power to the plane of human dignity.
In the middle of this discussion, it is especially clear why Nikk.Agency — News of Israel considers the topic not as a distant Vatican agenda, but as part of a large international restructuring. AI already affects security, media, education, war, economy, and trust in information — that is, the areas that directly concern Israel, Ukraine, and the Jewish world.
Why the name Leo XIV is no coincidence here
Leo XIV chose his papal name with an obvious historical reference to Leo XIII. It was Leo XIII who in 1891 published the encyclical Rerum Novarum on capital, labor, and workers’ rights — a document that became the foundation of modern Catholic social teaching. The new encyclical Magnifica humanitas was signed on May 15, 2026, on the 135th anniversary of Rerum Novarum.
The parallel is almost direct. Then the Church responded to the challenge of the industrial revolution: factories, exploitation of workers, new inequality, conflict of capital and labor. Now it is about another revolution — digital, algorithmic, associated with automation, data, military technologies, and the replacement of human labor.
The difference is in speed. The industrial world changed over decades. Artificial intelligence changes markets, professions, and political mechanisms in years, and sometimes in months.
What this means for Israel, Ukraine, and the world
For Israel, the issue of AI is not an abstract philosophy. It is a matter of national security, medical startups, cyber protection, data analysis, military systems, education, and media. Israeli society understands well that technology can save lives but can also create new risks — from automated disinformation to decision-making without transparent accountability.
For Ukraine, this conversation is even tougher. Against the backdrop of the war against Russian aggression, AI, drones, data analysis algorithms, cyber operations, and information campaigns have already become part of the real battlefield. And here the moral question sounds not like an academic discussion, but as a daily choice between protecting people and the danger of further dehumanizing war.
That is why the encyclical of Leo XIV may become not only a church text but also a guide for a broader global discussion. It raises the question that technological companies often prefer to bypass: can the future of humanity be entrusted to those who simultaneously build infrastructure, collect data, sell solutions, and lobby their own version of responsibility?
The final meaning of the document will still be revealed in political, religious, and expert circles. But the main thing is already clear: the Vatican tried to say that artificial intelligence cannot be just a market, a product, or a weapon. It is a test for the very idea of humanity.
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