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Pope Leone XIV Addresses AI: The Church at the Center of the Global Debate
The new pontiff relaunches Christian ethics as a guide to regulate AI, dialoguing with Big Tech and proposing an international treaty to protect human dignity and work
Editorial Team18 June 2025
US Pope Leone XIV has chosen the topic of AI as a priority, recalling the legacy of Leone XIII and focusing on the social teachings of the Church to address labor rights, human dignity and justice, promoting a binding international treaty.
Key points:
- Christian values to regulate AI
- Continuity with the encyclical Rerum Novarum
- Close dialogue with Big Tech
- International treaty hoped for by the Vatican
The pontiff, who arrived on the papal throne with the name of Leone XIV in homage to the previous Leone XIII, declared last month, during an audience with the cardinals, his intention to use the two thousand years of social doctrine of the Church to formulate a global action aimed at managing AI innovations, seen as "challenges to human dignity, justice and work". This line signals a strong continuity with the vision of his predecessor Francis, who already in 2023 had called for an international treaty on AI, with similar motivations relating to ethical risks, surveillance, autonomous weapons and inequalities. Among the most relevant initiatives launched by the Vatican is the 2020 “Rome Call for AI Ethics”, signed by IBM, Cisco and Microsoft, but not so far by Big Tech such as Google and OpenAI. In response to this scenario, numerous executives from Google, Microsoft, Cisco and other giants have gone to the Vatican in an attempt to influence Rome and guide government policies, aware that the Holy Father can exert a significant influence on global regulations. The Pope’s approach seems to lean towards a balance between recognizing the potential of AI – in sectors such as healthcare, education, protection of cultural heritage – and the desire to set limits based on fundamental rights and social equity. The Vatican considers any corporate self-regulation insufficient, arguing that only a binding multilateral pact can guarantee the ethical and humane use of emerging technologies.
In this delicate moment for the coexistence between man and machine, the Vatican proposes itself as a moral bridge and catalyst for global regulation.