An Online Public Dialogue on Magnifica Humanitas: AI, Catholic Social Teaching, and Pope Leo’s New Encyclical
Tuesday, June 2, 2026 from 3:00 to 4:15 PM EDT
Online via Livestream
Pope Leo’s first encyclical, Magnifica Humanitas (“Magnificent Humanity”), comes as humanity’s relationship with technology undergoes an epochal change. This major document — the most significant of Leo’s pontificate so far — asks us to consider what it means to promote the common good and safeguard the human person in a context of rapidly developing technology, especially the development of artificial intelligence. Pope Leo insists that this is not a moment for passive adaptation. The encyclical calls us to ask, in every context – work, family, education, public life – whether our technologies are serving human dignity or eroding it.
This dialogue will explore how technological changes can enhance, rather than replace, humanity’s co-creative relationship with God. It will also consider what new divisions we might face if we allow new technologies to replace our capacities for reflection and communion.