Leo’s First Encyclical Denounces AI, Demands Reparations

Magnifca Humanitas – In his first encyclical as pontiff, Pope Leo frames artificial intelligence as a threat to both humanity and the planet, linking ecological harm and new forms of exploitation to a wider history of colonialism, slavery, and market-driven “structural sins.” He a

Last Monday. Pope Leo released Magnifca Humanitas. his first encyclical as pontiff. and he didn’t treat artificial intelligence like a topic for distant debate. In roughly 40-something pages. he argues that AI is a threat to humanity and the planet—part of what he describes as a long cycle of exploitation and destruction—and insists that any effort to confront it must be built on social justice.

Many people were surprised by the encyclical’s bluntness and willingness to take on a polarizing issue. A longtime Catholic reader of the document is not. That reaction captures the tone around the encyclical: pride on one side. concern on the other. and a sense that the Vatican has chosen a fight that will not stay contained.

Magnifca Humanitas, the reader writes, picks up where Pope Francis’ first encyclical, Laudato Si, left off. Laudato Si was released in 2015 and was widely praised as a bold Vatican statement. In it. Pope Francis laid out a case that a culture and economy of extraction. human exploitation. and blind faith in technology and finance have damaged creation. The encyclical called for an “ecological conversion” and illustrated the idea that “the cry of the earth is the cry of the poor.”.

Pope Leo, in turn, explicitly links AI’s ecological damage to what Pope Francis warned about. The encyclical points to degradation of common resources such as land and water for technological consumption. waste and pollution that come from technological development. and negative impacts tied to rare earth mineral mining. It also criticizes what Pope Leo characterizes as the “hypocritical slowness” to adopt environmental commitments compared to the speed with which AI is being developed.

The encyclical then presses a harder point: ecological conversion can’t be separated from human dignity. Pope Leo argues that any response must take seriously “the human being as a creature embedded in a network of relationships with other living beings and with all of creation.”

That theme widens into a broader indictment of power. Pope Leo calls out what he describes as the idolatry of profit and “structural sins” within capitalism and markets. He also argues that AI can enable oppression and “new colonialism. ” reduce people to data points. and threaten labor and creativity. The argument goes further, linking AI to the legacy of slavery.

In the process. Pope Leo includes an apology for the Church’s historic role in sanctioning the slave trade—an apology framed as long overdue. The reader describes it as “centuries” coming. and notes that without the Church’s explicit blessing—illustrated by the Doctrine of Discovery. a 15th century teaching that sanctified colonialism and land grabs for Christianity—it is hard to imagine colonialism and slavery taking the shape they did.

Pope Leo’s own historical references are laid out in the same passage: the reader says that Pope Leo XIII was the first to condemn slavery in 1888, and that Pope Leo XIV, whose lineage includes enslaved people, “rightfully took it a step further.”

The piece also brings the argument into the present through Taproot Earth, where the author is co-founder and strategy partner. Working with frontline communities around the world—especially in the Global South—the organization has heard. repeatedly. that climate repair must begin with acknowledgement and apology for the wrongs of colonialism and slavery. which the reader argues paved the way to today’s climate crisis. The reader portrays Pope Leo’s acknowledgement and apology for the Church’s role in slavery as building on a prior move by Pope Francis in 2023: an acknowledgement and apology for the Doctrine of the Discovery.

AI’s role in the climate crisis and in destabilizing and decimating the labor force is central to the reader’s claim that the Church taking a stand is not merely logical but required by the Gospel. That is where Magnifca Humanitas shifts from acknowledging harm to demanding repair.

Pope Leo’s call to repair comes with a direct prescription. The reader quotes the encyclical: “Living out justice in the Church means … acknowledging the harm done, just reparation and taking steps to prevent it from happening again.” In the reader’s framing, that points to one thing: reparations.

Climate reparations. the reader argues. would only take root if the common good and creation are stewarded in a way that centers community and shared futures. That requires a close look at how people can move to survive or stay on their lands to cultivate care. It also requires communities to have a say in how resources are managed, received, and used for climate solutions. In this view, climate reparations are about self-determination, collective governance, and liberation.

In a world already roiled by the climate crisis, reparations also have to address the reality of movement. The reader says people’s right to free movement must be affirmed and implemented. The reader adds that the Church has long supported this right and that Pope Leo affirms it—explicitly naming the right to remain and the right to migrate.

The encyclical closes with a more personal assertion that the reader draws toward home. “We must remember that humanity flourishes not despite limitations, but often through them,” writes Pope Leo XIV, the reader says. The writer. as a parent. describes living that reality daily—kids reminding them of limitations—and tying it to the belief that repair and truth are possible in a changing world. In the reader’s telling. limitations are not only constraints but the place where community forms and where solutions for the common good can be built.

The piece ends by returning to the hopes it described as a year-long arc. Last year. the reader wrote that while Pope Francis was known as “the people’s pope. ” they were hopeful that Pope Leo would become “the planet’s pope.” A year later. they say those hopes appear well-placed—casting Magnifca Humanitas as evidence that Pope Leo is stepping into that role.

Pope Leo Magnifca Humanitas AI artificial intelligence Laudato Si Pope Francis climate justice climate reparations Doctrine of Discovery colonialism slavery rare earth mining labor rights