A Papal Name for a New Age
When Cardinal Prevost chose the name Leo XIV upon his election to the papacy, observers immediately noted the homage to Pope Leo XIII. Over a century ago, Leo XIII ushered in the era of Catholic social teaching with Rerum Novarum (1891), an encyclical confronting the injustices and upheavals of the industrial revolution. By taking the name Leo, the new pope signaled that the Church would face today’s transformative technological upheaval with similar courage and clarity. In his early remarks, Pope Leo XIV identified artificial intelligence (AI) as a central social and moral challenge of his papacy—a “new social question” requiring the Church’s wisdom both ancient and new. Echoing his namesake, he positioned his pontificate to address the rerum novarum (“new things”) of our age in continuity with the Church’s tradition.
From the outset, Pope Leo XIV has spoken of AI in terms reminiscent of Leo XIII’s concern for the exploited worker and the common good. “Artificial intelligence is at the heart of the epochal change we are experiencing,” Pope Francis observed in 2020, and Pope Leo XIV has de facto embraced this insight. Like the steam engine and the assembly line in the nineteenth century, AI today promises both great advances and grave risks for human dignity and society. Pope Francis’s public statements laid the groundwork via a balanced hope and concern: On the one hand, enthusiasm for AI’s potential to “enable a democratization of access to knowledge, the exponential advancement of scientific research, and the possibility of giving demanding and arduous work to machines,” but on the other, a sober warning that without guidance it could “bring greater injustice . . . raising the dangerous possibility that a ‘throwaway culture’ be preferred to a ‘culture of encounter.’” By inheriting Francis’s foundational work and invoking Leo XIII’s legacy, Pope Leo XIV appears to be framing AI as the defining social mission of the Church in this generation—one that will require moral reflection, bold evangelization, and concrete action for the sake of the human person.
In the Footsteps of Rerum Novarum
Pope Leo XIII’s Rerum Novarum confronted the social turmoil of its time—the exploitation of workers, widening class divides, and the moral confusion brought by rapid industrialization. It affirmed principles like the dignity of labor, the rights of workers to just wages and unions, the duties of employers, the right to private property tempered by the common good, and the protection of the family as the cornerstone of society. Central was the insistence that human beings must never be reduced to mere cogs in an economic machine. Employers are “not to look upon their work people as their bondsmen, but to respect in every man his dignity as a person ennobled by Christian character,” wrote Leo XIII (RN 20). Furthermore, Rerum Novarum proclaimed that no social or economic expediency could justify trampling human worth: “No man may with impunity outrage that human dignity which God Himself treats with great reverence” (RN 40).
The economy and technology must be at the service of the human person, the family, and the common good—never vice versa.
By choosing the name Leo XIV, the new pope makes a deliberate link to these enduring truths. He sees AI as a new chapter in the fight to uphold human dignity in the economic and social order. Just as Rerum Novarum responded to the “condition of the working classes” in an industrial age, the Church now must address the condition of the human person in an age of algorithms and automation. Pope Leo XIV has noted that AI’s impact on labor and the economy could be as disruptive as mechanization was in the 1800s. Advanced AI and robotics promise productivity and prosperity but also threaten to displace workers and concentrate wealth. Will AI empower workers or render many economically superfluous? Will it enhance the common good or widen the gap between tech elites and everyone else? These questions echo the concerns of Leo XIII, updated to a digital era. The Church’s answer must begin from the same point as in 1891: an inviolable commitment to human dignity and to a just social order in which technology serves the person, not the other way around.
It’s as though Pope Leo XIV is signaling a kind of “Nova Rerum Novarum”—a new encyclical or teaching to apply the principles of Catholic social doctrine to the “new things” of AI. While such a document may yet be forthcoming, his vision is clearly in continuity with Catholic social teaching from Leo XIII through Benedict XVI and Francis: The economy and technology must be at the service of the human person, the family, and the common good—never vice versa. In this continuity we see the Church’s wisdom, both antiqua et nova (old and new), addressing unprecedented challenges with enduring truths.
Antiqua et Nova
On January 28, 2025, the Vatican released a remarkable document titled Antiqua et Nova. This text—a collaborative note issued by the Dicasteries for the Doctrine of the Faith and for Culture and Education—exemplifies the Church’s effort to place the pope’s concerns in dialogue with the broader Catholic tradition. The title, Antiqua et Nova (“Old and New”), echoes Christ’s parable of the wise steward who brings forth “what is new and what is old” (Matt. 13:52). Appropriately, the text affirms timeless truths about the human person even as it addresses the frontiers of AI. It begins by reminding us that human intelligence reflects the image of God (Gen. 1:27) and fulfills humanity’s vocation to “till and keep” the earth (Antiqua et Nova 1). Scientific and technological creativity, when guided by moral truth, is seen as a genuine form of stewardship and participation in God’s work.
The document draws a vital distinction between human and artificial intelligence. It warns that calling machines “intelligent” can be misleading: “AI should not be seen as an artificial form of human intelligence, but as a product of it” (see AN 35, 40, 48, 52). While AI may simulate human reasoning, it lacks a soul, free will, and moral agency. Only human beings can bear responsibility for how such tools are developed and used. Even the most advanced AI, including autonomous weapons, cannot replace the human conscience or the wisdom of the heart.
By engaging the AI revolution with hope and wisdom, the Church bears witness to the world.
Antiqua et Nova surveys the ethical challenges and opportunities of AI across society, much as Rerum Novarum addressed the social upheavals of its day. It discusses education, where AI may personalize learning but also risk misinforming or biasing students. In health care, it affirms AI’s potential for improved diagnostics and treatment, while cautioning that such benefits must reach all and “not worsen existing healthcare inequalities” (AN 76). On economics and labor, the document welcomes innovation as part of humanity’s collaboration with God, yet warns that AI must not deepen poverty or widen the “digital divide” (AN 52). Regarding warfare, it issues a grave warning: AI could escalate violence beyond human oversight, “precipitating a destabilizing arms race, with catastrophic consequences for human rights” (AN 99).
These concerns reflect a coherent ethical vision. In every case, the Church urges discernment: Does a given use of AI serve the human person and the common good, or does it threaten dignity and solidarity? One key passage affirms: “‘The intrinsic dignity of every man and every woman’ must be ‘the key criterion in evaluating emerging technologies; these will prove ethically sound to the extent that they help respect that dignity and increase its expression at every level of human life’” (AN 42, quoting a 2023 address by Pope Francis). This principle is the perennial wisdom of Catholic social teaching applied to our digital era.
Antiqua et Nova emphasizes the principle of subsidiarity—the idea that decisions should be made at the most local level appropriate to safeguard human freedom and initiative. Originally articulated in Catholic social teaching (e.g., Quadragesimo Anno, 1931), subsidiarity is highly relevant to AI governance. The document affirms that guiding AI toward the common good is a shared task at “every level of society, guided by the principle of subsidiarity and other principles of Catholic Social Teaching” (AN 42). This means not only global tech firms and national governments but also local communities, schools, churches, and families must help shape how AI is used.
Rather than allowing a few to impose their vision on all, the Church calls for broad engagement to ensure technology serves authentic human flourishing. As AI systems developed by a small elite spread rapidly across borders, Catholic teaching insists on a global ethic rooted in the dignity of the entire human family. Pope Leo XIV has echoed this emphasis via his decision to continue the legacy of both his namesake as well as that of his immediate predecessor. This vision of participatory discernment parallels Rerum Novarum’s call to extend justice and charity beyond class or nation, applying those same principles now to the digital and algorithmic age.
A Vision for Vatican-Led Reflection and Action
What might Pope Leo XIV’s bold engagement with AI mean for the future? In speculative terms, we can expect the Vatican under his leadership to become an increasingly prominent voice in the global conversation about AI ethics. The pope’s very public framing of AI as a top moral priority lends moral weight to initiatives like the United Nations’ debates on regulating autonomous weapons or the tech industry’s discussions on AI safety. We may see the Holy See sponsoring more conferences that bring tech executives, scientists, philosophers, and theologians together under the aegis of Catholic social thought—much as Pope Paul VI once brought diverse voices to dialogue on world hunger and peace. The creation of the Antiqua et Nova document itself is a model: It was a “mutual reflection” between doctrinal and cultural experts, and such cross-disciplinary reflection will only grow. Vatican-led AI research might include partnerships with Catholic universities to ensure development of AI aligns with human dignity. One could imagine a Vatican Observatory-like institute for AI ethics, where scholars can study and even develop ethical AI systems in areas like education or environmental stewardship, showing by example how to integrate faith and technology.
Theologically, Pope Leo XIV’s stance challenges the Church to deepen its understanding in several areas. The doctrine of creation and the human person may gain new nuances as we respond to AI—perhaps a future encyclical will articulate more fully the Church’s teaching on the proper relationship between human creators and their creations (echoing, in a new key, the themes of human work and creativity that St. John Paul II wrote about in Laborem Exercens). Moral theology will likely refine principles on the use of autonomous systems, clarifying questions of culpability, the limits of delegation to machines, and the virtues needed in a high-tech society (patience, humility, and prudence come to mind). Social doctrine, from Rerum Novarum onward, will continue to emphasize solidarity—now extending to digital solidarity. For instance, Antiqua et Nova reiterates that “technological developments that do not lead to an improvement in the quality of life of all humanity . . . can never count as true progress,” a direct application of the common good to AI (AN 54).
Pope Leo XIV’s focus on AI is ultimately evangelical: a proclamation that amid rapid change, Jesus Christ remains “the same yesterday, today, and forever,” and the human person is always loved by God (Heb. 13:8). By engaging the AI revolution with hope and wisdom, the Church bears witness to the world. It shows that faith and reason, working together, can guide us through even the most complex technological storms. It invites tech-makers to see their work within a broader moral narrative—one that either builds or undermines the human family—and calls all of us to deeper trust in God’s providence.
The title Antiqua et Nova is fitting; as the Church faces new challenges, it draws on a timeless inheritance of truth. Pope Leo XIII’s work still echoes: The Church does not seek to stifle progress but to ensure that it is true progress—anchored in moral truth and oriented toward heaven. Pope Leo XIV, standing in that same tradition, now leads the Church into the frontier of artificial intelligence—so that this powerful creation of human ingenuity becomes not a threat to humanity but a force for its authentic development and the greater glory of God.