Pope Leo’s Magnifica Humanitas: Safeguarding and Our Mission

Artwork by Sr. Danielle Victoria

As someone who spent years crafting the art of writing, AI is at once a marvel and, at the same time, a terrible disappointment. Once a lover of the em dash, I now use it less because AI also loves em dashes. Perhaps more disappointingly, when my mind sparks with creativity and I connect two disparate images with an analogy that I had never considered before, I wonder, “Will this sound like AI?” The attention and contemplation required by excellent writing have been cheapened by doubt.

Technological advances often bring with them delight, efficiency, and grief.

Canadian media theorist and Catholic, Marshall McLuhan, argued that every time we extend a human function beyond ourselves through technology, both an amputation and an extension of the human person occur. He gives the example of a wheel as an amputation of the human foot, which allows us to walk faster. As technology becomes more advanced, what is amputated and extended in the human person becomes more and more interior. He compares “electric” technology, which in his time was television and radio, to extending and numbing our central nervous system. As a result, he dramatically concludes, “In the electric age we wear all mankind as our skin.”

AI extends McLuhan’s concept even further; with AI, we amputate and numb our minds.

All this can sound quite negative and anti-technology but McLuhan was neither. He was simply a realist who urged people to actually face the real benefits and consequences of technological advances. Pope Leo’s new encyclical Magnifica Humanitas takes a similar approach. Echoing Pope Francis’ argument in Laudato Si’, Pope Leo contends that “technology is never neutral, because it takes on the characteristics of those who devise, finance, regulate and use it” (§ 9). He prophetically calls us to face the reality of AI in our world, both the benefits and consequences, so that we can safeguard the human person, writing that, “Each generation inherits the task of shaping its own era, of guiding history to become a place where the dignity of every person is safeguarded, justice is promoted and fraternity is made possible” (§ 1).

At the beginning of his pontificate, Pope Leo wrote a message on the occasion of a theater production honoring Peruvian investigative journalist Paola Ugaz, who wrote about the “Sodalitium of Christian Life” (SCV), an ecclesial organization that was suppressed by Pope Francis due to abuse and corruption. In his message, Pope Leo wrote, “Prevention [of abuse] and care are not just pastoral strategies—they are the heart of the Gospel.”

Abuse prevention is the heart of the Gospel. Not a side issue. The heart of it all.

When I heard these words, I thought, “This is a good sentiment, one I hope plays out in this pontificate.” So when I began to read Magnifica Humanitas and saw that the subtitle was “On Safeguarding the Human Person in the Time of Artificial Intelligence,” I felt hopeful. Pope Leo uses the verb “safeguard” two dozen times in the encyclical, a word most often connected—at least in the European world—with abuse prevention. There’s no public acknowledgment at the moment of the language Pope Leo used to draft the encyclical but, because English is his first language, I wondered if he drafted it in English. Even if he did not, was the use of that verb and its connotations purposeful? Upon reading the encyclical carefully, I think it was.

The encyclical begins with a historical summary of Catholic Social Doctrine on the dignity of the human person—-a wise move that gives a strong foundation to the text in an increasingly contextless world. As I read this introduction, I thought, “How can we speak of the ideal of human dignity without facing the ways members of the Church—including its highest leaders—-have failed to protect and respect human dignity?” In my opinion, this is a key failure when it comes to many modern efforts to evangelize and explain the magisterial teachings of the Church. We focus on the beauty of the ideal while disregarding the real. This dissociative approach leads us to look like hypocrites to those on the outside looking in.

As expected, Pope Leo writes about the ideal in Magnifica Humanitas: “Human dignity does not depend on a person’s abilities, wealth or position in life, nor on the right or wrong choices made; instead, it is a gift that precedes and transcends each person, endowed by God as an expression of his unfailing love” (§ 50).

He then goes on to write about justice:

Justice is not merely about the fairer distribution of resources or the correction of current injustices, but also assumes a restorative dimension. It aims to mend broken bonds and reintegrate those who have been excluded, taking into account the wounds caused by injustices, such as wars, colonialism, racial or gender discrimination, violence against entire peoples and exploitation (§ 79).

Of course, all of his observations are true. Yet, also, when writing about the institutions of the world, if the Church does not apply these same principles to herself, these words become ironic. “Please do not let this be ironic,” I thought. As I read on, I prepared to be disappointed—as I often am when I am looking for frank appraisals of the gap between the ideal and the real in our lived experience of the faith.

And then… Pope Leo said the quiet part out loud:

Social Doctrine is not merely a message addressed to society; it is also an examination of conscience for the Church—a home and school of communion that is always called to ensure that the principles outlined in this chapter are applied, especially within its own structures (§ 86).

We cannot speak of the ideal and call the powers of the world to this ideal unless we acknowledge our own failures within our own structures to honor the dignity of the human person. In other words, the Social Doctrine of the Church is not just about our work outward toward others in need in the world, it’s about working toward justice and human dignity from within.

Pope Leo then describes justice lived out in the Church:

Living out justice in the Church means purifying ecclesial relationships and structures from distortions that give rise to inequality, lack of transparency and abuse of power. In this regard, listening to the victims of spiritual, economic, institutional, sexual and power-based abuse, as well as abuses of conscience, is an integral part of a journey toward justice, which includes acknowledging the harm done, just reparation and taking steps to prevent it from happening again.

As Sisters of the Little Way, this point is fundamental to the work we do. We do not believe our mission touches on a “side issue” in the Church. Our mission of listening and standing in solidarity with those harmed within the structures of the Church is fundamental to the Gospel and to our effectiveness in preaching it. If recognizing and respecting human dignity does not come with making reparation for our failures when we do not, we become hypocrites.

The more we are able as Church to recognize the reality of our failures openly and work toward repair with humility, the more effective our evangelical witness will be.

Pope Leo models how this can be done in Magnifica Humanitas.

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