Understanding Vatican’s unexpected involvement in shaping AI ethics

The rapid rise of artificial intelligence has unsettled societies and sparked global questions about humanity’s role in a technological revolution already transforming every facet of life. Economies are shifting, politics are struggling to keep pace, and moral frameworks are being tested. Against this backdrop, the Holy See’s engagement with AI may appear surprising — yet the Vatican is uniquely positioned to shape the public debate and influence global policymaking.

For nearly a decade, the Holy See has been cultivating a structured and sustained dialogue on AI, encouraging reflection on an issue that too often polarizes opinion, according to a reporter for Project Syndicate who attended a Vatican-organized event on this issue.

The author participated in the Minerva Dialogues, a series of meetings bringing together theologians, thinkers, and technology leaders — particularly from Silicon Valley — to reflect on the moral and social implications of artificial intelligence.

As with the issue of climate change, the late Pope Francis sought to lead a global conversation grounded in ethical awareness. His initiative produced successive commitments to place “human beings at the center” of technological progress. Francis encouraged critical engagement with AI — warning of its dangers while also highlighting its promise. 

His successor, Pope Leo XIV, appears to have reaffirmed this vision. According to the article, the new pope — who took his name from Leo XIII, the author of the Church’s foundational text on social doctrine — sees clear parallels between the industrial upheaval of the 19th century and today’s challenges posed by AI. Since assuming the papacy, Leo XIV has repeatedly called for an “ethical and structural response” to emerging technologies.

Lessons from Rerum Novarum

When industrialization was reshaping society, Pope Leo XIII’s Rerum Novarum (“On New Things” or “On Innovation”) sought to navigate a path between communism and unrestrained capitalism. The encyclical rejected class struggle, affirmed private property as a natural right, and condemned the concentration of wealth among a privileged few. It also called for workers’ rights, encouraged union formation, and recognized the state’s role in providing social protection.

As the article notes, Rerum Novarum represented a historic turning point for the Church, which had previously stood apart from modern social currents. With that encyclical, the Church laid the groundwork for its social doctrine, inspiring future policies such as Sunday rest laws, family allowances, the creation of trade unions, and the rise of Christian Democracy — which became a major political force in post-war Europe.

Today’s AI revolution raises similar questions about work, inequality, and the meaning of human dignity. What does the “dignity of labour” mean when machines can perform many tasks once reserved for humans? Will automation erode social bonds by reducing people to “handmaidens of technology”?

The technology also introduces new moral dilemmas — from AI programs that simulate “conversations” with the dead to its influence on how children learn and form relationships.

A mathematician by training, Pope Leo XIV is neither a technophile nor a technophobe. He promotes discernment — “taking time to understand before judging” — and calls for humanizing the AI debate rather than deepening its polarization. Like Leo XIII, he seeks to ensure that the current technological transformation “remains in the service of working people and the common good of society.”

Vatican’s global influence through Christian institutions

The article argues that the Vatican’s participation in the AI debate, though unexpected to some, is fully legitimate. The Church’s reach extends to roughly one billion Catholics, with direct influence over more than 200,000 educational institutions and 100,000 hospitals and care centers worldwide.

This vast global network gives it a unique platform to advocate for AI as a tool for inclusion and human dignity. Through its words and moral authority, the Vatican, the author concludes, can remind the world that “technology must serve people and society — not the other way around.

By Nazrin Sadigova