All posts tagged: Pope

Returning to the fold? Some young Spaniards embrace Catholicism and can’t wait for Pope Leo’s visit

Returning to the fold? Some young Spaniards embrace Catholicism and can’t wait for Pope Leo’s visit

Published by Sam Flores

Until three years ago, Sara Cabral’s faith experience was on trend with other Southern European youth — a “Catholic but never practicing” upbringing with little relevance to her life on Spain’s Canary Islands. Then she listened to a song from a faith youth group that felt as if God were speaking to her. She joined the group, and now in addition to its weekly adoration with music sessions, Cabral is excitedly preparing to attend Pope Leo XIV ’s Mass in Gran Canaria with her friends. “You get a restlessness about an emptiness that you don’t know how to fill,” Cabral, 26, says of her embrace of Catholicism. “God is the one looking for you first, but you need to go meet him.” On trips to Spain this month and France in September, Leo will find thousands of young people like her in these traditionally Catholic but now staunchly secular countries, where historic churches are abundant and Mass attendance is sparse. Church leaders and some experts see the success of youth movements and the surge in …

The Pope Just Weighed In On AI

The Pope Just Weighed In On AI

Published by Jenni Sidey

This article is republished with permission from AI, Innovation, and Faith This wasn’t on my bingo card. I didn’t expect to be writing a piece about the Pope and AI this week. Not because the topic surprises me. I’ve been living at the intersection of faith and technology for years. I just didn’t see this discussion happening last Monday. When the Pope releases the first-ever papal encyclical on artificial intelligence and invites an Anthropic co-founder to speak at the Vatican presentation, something significant has shifted. This wasn’t a press release or a denominational task force report. This is the Catholic Church’s highest level of formal teaching, deployed for the first time in history on the subject of AI. That’s kind of a big deal. What Just Happened in Rome On May 25, 2026, Pope Leo XIV released Magnifica Humanitas: “On Safeguarding the Human Person in the Time of Artificial Intelligence.” Full encyclical. Highest doctrinal weight with in the Catholic Church and it has global impact. The title alone is worth thinking about over a few cups …

Chicago mayor sees Pope Leo XIV as key ally on social justice, migration after Vatican meeting

Chicago mayor sees Pope Leo XIV as key ally on social justice, migration after Vatican meeting

Published by Sam Flores

ROME (AP) — Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson cast Pope Leo XIV as a powerful global ally on social justice, migration and reparations after meeting the Chicago-born pontiff at the Vatican, saying their shared roots and priorities could help amplify efforts to protect vulnerable communities. “As the mayor of Chicago, we are incredibly elated and proud of him,” Johnson told The Associated Press in an interview Friday, a day after meeting the American pope in a private audience. The mayor said it was comforting to know that someone who comes from the city of Chicago “can speak to justice” and defend “the most vulnerable among us.” Johnson, a first-term progressive Democrat leading the third-largest U.S. city, traveled to Rome with a delegation of some 50 local officials, drawing strong media interest. He is a leading critic of U.S. President Donald Trump and has applauded Leo for pushing back against the war in Iran and Trump administration immigration policies. Johnson said he used the meeting to thank the pope “for his courage and his strength and particularly …

Pope Leo XIV compares AI to the Industrial Revolution – as new alternatives to big AI firms take shape

Pope Leo XIV compares AI to the Industrial Revolution – as new alternatives to big AI firms take shape

Published by Sam Flores

(The Conversation) — With the release of his encyclical letter Magnifica Humanitas on May 25, 2026, Pope Leo XIV has signaled that he wants the church to respond to artificial intelligence much as a predecessor, Pope Leo XIII, responded to upheavals during the Industrial Revolution over a century ago. Since the first act of his papacy – choosing his name – the current pope has repeatedly invoked the earlier Leo’s 1891 encyclical Rerum Novarum. That document, which waded into the political and economic debates of the time, denounced the excesses of the Gilded Age and pointed toward a more just social order. Now, Leo XIV has used his first major statement to the world to present a new Rerum Novarum for the age of AI. Rerum Novarum was more than just a theological text. It helped reshape economic policy around the rights of workers, serving as a spiritual foundation for European social democracy and the 1930s New Deal programs that still undergird economic life for working Americans today. It also spurred a movement of entrepreneurs …

Pope Leo Is Challenging Much More Than Big Tech

Pope Leo Is Challenging Much More Than Big Tech

Published by Daniella Wilson

Magnifica Humanitas, Pope Leo XIV’s new encyclical “on safeguarding the human person in the time of artificial intelligence,” has received widespread praise. This isn’t surprising. A popular and learned world leader with a significant degree of moral authority is pointing out the dangers of a deeply unpopular technology created by deeply unpopular people. The laudatory coverage of the encyclical is justified, but it has obscured perhaps Leo’s most important insight. Magnifica Humanitas (“Magnificent Humanity”) is not only—or even mostly—about AI itself. And the pope is challenging much more than Big Tech. To be sure, Leo devotes considerable space to addressing the technology and its purveyors. In one of the document’s most-quoted passages, he declares that AI “must be disarmed” and prevented “from dominating humanity.” Elsewhere, he argues for the need “to establish adequate regulatory tools capable of upholding justice and curbing the distorting effects of technological power” on human relationships, working conditions, public discourse, international affairs, and much else. Given AI’s “energy-intensive infrastructure,” the pope warns, “it is essential to develop more sustainable technological solutions …

Pope Leo reminds us of the value of our shared humanity : NPR

Pope Leo reminds us of the value of our shared humanity : NPR

Published by Sam Flores

Pope Leo XIV attends the presentation of his first Encyclical Letter “Magnifica Humanitas” focused on the rise of artificial intelligence, in The Vatican on May 25, 2026. Alberto Pizzoli/AFP via Getty Images hide caption toggle caption Alberto Pizzoli/AFP via Getty Images Pope Leo released his first encyclical this week. He called it Magnifica Humanitas — or Magnificent Humanity. In it, he compares the swift, irresistible rise of Artificial Intelligence in our lives to the biblical story of the Tower of Babel, which ends with God punishing humans for their hubris. Though the pope says he welcomes the advances AI can make in medicine, research, and education, when he presented his encyclical at the Vatican, he wrote, bluntly: “Artificial intelligence needs to be disarmed. The word is strong, I know, but deliberately chosen because this moment needs words capable of attracting attention, awakening consciences and indicating paths forward for humanity.” The encyclical is book-length, and hard to summarize in a concise report. Maybe AI could. But we can read some of Pope Leo’s own words. The …

The 14th Century Philosopher That Challenged the Power of the Pope

The 14th Century Philosopher That Challenged the Power of the Pope

Published by Sam Flores

Published: May 30, 2026written by Simon Lea, PhD Philosophy Summary Marsilius argued the Church’s claim to earthly power was harmful to peace and societal tranquility. He believed the state alone should hold coercive power to enforce laws and maintain order. His revolutionary idea of separating Church and State is a foundational concept for modern democracy. Marsilius argued earthly laws are human-made and therefore can be fallible or “bad” laws. Show more   Marsilius of Padua was one of the most innovative political thinkers of the Middle Ages. His thinking is seen by many today as a precursor to modern democracy. Marsilius’ views of human nature, the rule of law, and the separation of the Church and State are commonplace today but revolutionary in his time. In his great work Defender of the Peace, Marsilius argues that not only should the Church not have political power, but that its claim of authority over earthly matters was actually harmful to peace and tranquility.   Who Was Marsilius of Padua? Miniature on the first page of a luxury manuscript of the Defensor pacis by an …

Bad Bunny wants to meet Pope Leo XIV. In Madrid, a crossover event is in the works.

Bad Bunny wants to meet Pope Leo XIV. In Madrid, a crossover event is in the works.

Published by Sam Flores

MADRID (RNS) — Pope Leo XIV and Bad Bunny may seem unlikely candidates for a shared stage, but with both the pontiff and the Puerto Rican pop star set to draw huge crowds in Madrid next week, church and city officials say a meeting — or at least a live video link — is possible. Cardinal José Cobo, archbishop of Madrid, said in an interview with the Europa Press news agency on May 21 that a meeting between the two “is possible.” He added that it could be an opportunity for “bridges to be built.” He also said the Archdiocese of Madrid wants to help make the meeting happen, but added that it will be handled discreetly and “surprises are surprises.” Speaking to a small group of reporters in Madrid, including Religion News Service, the spokesperson for the archdiocese, Sara La Torre, confirmed that Bad Bunny expressed interest in meeting the pope. “The slogan of Madrid is that it’s a crossroads of the world,” said the delegate for tourism of the city of Madrid, Marta …

Was Peter the First Pope? – OpentheWord.org

Was Peter the First Pope? – OpentheWord.org

Published by Sam Flores

St. Peter’s Basilica, Vatican City, Rome. Several years back, my wife and I adopted our daughter from Peru. This involved travelling to the South American country to actually pick her up at a Roman Catholic orphanage. I was there for three weeks and my wife for six. But while there we met a young Peruvian couple who could speak English. They were committed Catholics, but were part of the Charismatic movement. There is absolutely no doubt in my mind they along with others working at the orphanage were Christians. While I don’t agree with much of the dogma taught by the Roman Catholic Church, I am convinced that many within the church are believers. One of the Catholic teachings that I disagree with is the Papacy. This is the belief that the Pope is the Supreme leader of the worldwide church. This notion is rejected by protestants and evangelicals today for several reasons: Peter Could Not Be Pope Today Roman Catholics believe that Peter, as the Bishop of Rome, was the first pope. As Peter’s …

The story of Pope Leo’s ‘landmark’ text on AI technology – by a member of its launch panel

The story of Pope Leo’s ‘landmark’ text on AI technology – by a member of its launch panel

Published by skeptic

For the last few years, I’ve been seconded to assist the Catholic Church’s unprecedented global grassroots listening initiative. Just as that process drew to a close, I received a surprise request: would I help Pope Leo XIV launch his first social encyclical, focused on what it means to be human in a time of artificial intelligence? It is difficult to think of a more important theme right now than the impact of digital technologies, AI and robotics – on every level of our social interactions and structures. The Vatican has addressed technological questions before. My research includes the social teaching of popes since 1891, starting with Pope Leo XIII’s influential text “Rerum Novarum”, which addressed the impact of the industrial revolution on working people (and which this new text commemorates). A range of previous letters have addressed both the opportunities and dangers of technology. Of course, the Vatican does have a chequered history with regard to theological reflection on scientific and medical developments. Over the past decade, it has been pursuing focused and, in my …