This week on a special “Inside the Vatican” roundtable, a discussion of “Magnifica Humanitas,” Pope Leo’s groundbreaking first encyclical on protecting the human person in the age of artificial intelligence. Host Colleen Dulle sits down with her co-host and senior Vatican correspondent, Gerard O’Connell, as well as America’s president and editor in chief, Sam Sawyer, S.J.
They discuss the document’s key takeaways, how it is being received in Silicon Valley, Pope Leo’s challenge for every Catholic in the A.I. age and much more.
Chapters:
- 0:00 Intro
- 1:11 Pope Leo present for the launch of his own encyclical
- 4:21 How the encyclical is being received by the tech community
- 8:43 Magnifica Humanitas on the growth of Catholic social teaching
- 13:16 Acknowledging the Church’s role in slavery
- 15:53 Exploring Pope Leo’s ecclesiology
- 22:30 Leo’s concrete recommendations for A.I.
- 32:30 How lay people can deal with A.I.
- 37:40 Outro
Links:
- Read “Magnifica Humanitas”
- Pope Leo’s first encyclical tackles A.I., power and human dignity
- Pope Leo XIV makes historic apology for the Catholic Church’s role in legitimizing slavery
- Why Pope Leo’s new encyclical quotes Gandalf: Literary images of hope and faith in ‘Magnifica Humanitas’
- A capitalist (priest) reads ‘Magnifica Humanitas’

