VATICAN CITY — Pope Leo XIV will release his first encyclical, titled "Magnifica Humanitas," on May 25 in Vatican City, addressing the preservation of human dignity in the face of artificial intelligence. The pope signed the document on May 15, the 135th anniversary of the signing of "Rerum Novarum," the 1891 encyclical by Pope Leo XIII that addressed teachings on navigating the industrial revolution.

An encyclical is a special papal letter sent to all bishops in the Roman Catholic Church, and popes often release them to share the Vatican's perspective on pressing social issues. Pope Francis released four encyclicals during his 12 years as pope, including one on the importance of caring for the environment.

The formal launch event on May 25 will take place in the main Vatican auditorium and include presenters Cardinal Víctor Manuel Fernández, Cardinal Michael Czerny, lay speakers Christopher Olah, Anna Rowlands and Leocadie Lushombo, a conclusion by Cardinal Pietro Parolin, and a speech and blessing by Pope Leo XIV. Olah is a co-founder of Anthropic, which has held events targeting religious leaders across faiths in the past year and invited Christian leaders to its headquarters in March and April to discuss the spiritual development of its AI systems.

In remarks ahead of the release, Pope Leo XIV said, "We are truly experiencing an eclipse of the sense of what it means to be human," and highlighted "the unbridled promotion and implementation of technology at the expense of human dignity and the damage caused when chatbots and other technologies exploit our need for human relationships." He told the College of Cardinals that the church could offer unique advice on how to approach "developments in the field of artificial intelligence that pose new challenges for the defense of human dignity, justice and labor." The pope has also approved the creation of a new interdepartmental Vatican commission to discuss and exchange information about AI's potential effects on human beings and on humanity as a whole, and has called for monitoring of how artificial intelligence is used in warfare.

"I think we should expect something that is of two minds," said Charles Camosy, a professor of moral theology. "Indeed, the very concept of the human seems up for grabs, and I strongly suspect the encyclical will push back firmly against that."

Will Jones, faith outreach lead at the Future of Life Institute, said, "I think most religious people, and certainly people from most Abrahamic faiths, would object to the idea that a system like Anthropic's Claude could ever have personhood." He added, "Human dignity can't so much be lost, but it can be desecrated and undermined and exploited and abused. Instead, it should be affirmed and celebrated and protected."