Pope Leo XIV has just published the encyclical *Magnifica Humanitas* (MH) “on the protection of the human person in the age of artificial intelligence.”
This authoritative text is relevant to us because…
…AI isn’t knocking on the door—it’s already in our homes!
It is true that this encyclical is part of the great tradition of the Church’s Social Doctrine and is addressed to a much broader audience than just couples and families. But for us, as couples on our journey through the CANA mission, engaging with this magisterial text is an invitation to reflect on the role of AI in our lives and, more broadly, in our human relationships. AI is no longer just a set of practical digital tools: it fundamentally influences and changes the way we think, communicate, raise our children, and live out our relationships—and perhaps even the way we love.
The main points that Pope Leo XIV highlights, questions, and denounces
- The pope does not condemn technology but seeks to examine the profound changes it is bringing about in society and in our very conception of what it means to be human. The key question, therefore, is not whether we should stop AI, but what kind of humanity it is helping to shape.
- He warns of the danger of a “cognitive collapse.” By continually delegating intellectual tasks to machines, certain human abilities—such as memory, concentration, critical thinking, and creativity—risk being weakened. Humans could gradually lose the habit of thinking for themselves. Technological progress does not automatically guarantee human or spiritual progress.
Let’s ask ourselves about this real danger to ourselves and our children
- In the face of a society obsessed with performance, speed, optimization, and profitability, the text reminds us of the importance of distinctly human qualities such as contemplation, slowness, vulnerability, silence, and wisdom. Human beings cannot be reduced to an optimal system, like a machine.
Faced with our personal and professional challenges, our desire for “success,” and our ambitions for our children, how much room do we leave for silence, contemplation, and vulnerability?
- Another concern of Pope Leo is the economic and psychological exploitation of individuals. He refers to the emergence of “data capitalism,” in which human behavior, emotions, attention, and habits become resources that can be exploited by major digital platforms. Every time we or our teenager get stuck on TikTok for 20 minutes when we really should be sleeping, someone is making money off our fatigue by analyzing our psychological profile to exploit it. This is where the Pope speaks to us about a new economic war. The human experience has gradually become a raw material—a development that is all the more disturbing because it often remains invisible.
- Léon XIV also points out that a small number of technology companies control data, digital infrastructure, and AI models: this gives them considerable power over society and even over governments. He warns of the risk of information manipulation, deepfakes, and—at the military level—autonomous weapons capable of making lethal decisions on their own.
Let’s reflect as a couple and with our children on the steps we take to exercise sound judgment
- The text criticizes the transhumanist ambitions of certain laboratories that firmly—“religiously”—believe that AI will enable us to transcend human limitations and overcome disease, aging, and even death. Transhumanism promises immortal man; Christianity promises the resurrected man! While transhumanism believes that man is called to transcend himself through technology and science, Christianity tells us that man is called to transcend himself through the radical nature of his love and through his deification (in the Orthodox sense).
Where do we place our faith?
“[…] At this point, a subtle temptation creeps in: the temptation to think that the problems are too big and we are too small, so that our choices make no difference. It is an elegant form of capitulation, often disguised as realism… Yet no one is without responsibility. Everyone has their own sphere of action, and it is there—and nowhere else—that they are called upon to choose between fueling the logic of force (even if only through indifference, cynicism, lies, or hatred) or upholding the logic of peace (through truth, moderation, closeness, and attentiveness)” MH 212
But the Pope invites us to hope and to…
…“Building a civilization of Love”
God continues to act at the heart of history and calls each of us to participate in building a “civilization of love.” And this mission does not begin in large institutions, but in the simplest and most everyday settings: the couple, the family, and close relationships.
A marriage is not built through screens, but through time spent together, genuine exchanges, and the quality of the relationship. No tool, no matter how advanced, can replace presence, listening, and mutual attention. Nothing will ever replace a deep conversation between spouses. AI and new technologies will never be able to replace the warmth of a home or the gestures of tenderness within a family.
We can appreciate the importance of critical thinking and even the need to sometimes learn to “fast from AI,” so as not to lose the desire to reflect, to create, and to connect with others. As parents, we have an essential mission: to help our children grow up with a balanced relationship with technology, to use digital tools responsibly, and to remain free. “Let’s invest in education, which begins with ourselves!” MH 238 Let’s be role models!
Love is not measured by results or performance, and human dignity does not depend on what we produce. In a family, each person is loved for who they are. Weaknesses and limitations are not obstacles to love; they are often the very places where tenderness, forgiveness, and faithfulness grow. We are called to bear witness to this for our children and for society.
The civilization of love presupposes that charity and mercy inspire our relationships. In this world, which is at times dominated by fear and individualism, our Cana fraternities are called to choose encounter and kindness, and to bear witness that it is possible to live differently: by trusting, serving, welcoming, sharing, and loving freely.
The Pope begins his encyclical by contrasting two models of society: that of Babel (cf. Gen 11:1–9), founded on power and domination, and that of Jerusalem (cf. Neh 2–6), founded on communion and love. Each of our couples, each of our fraternities, is called to make this choice every day. “Let each one take care how he builds” 1 Cor 3:10 (MH 229)
At the end of his encyclical, Leo XIV invites us to share in the faith of Mary as she sings her Magnificat; in the midst of the sociopolitical challenges of her time, as both poet and prophet, she sees and proclaims to the world what is unseen: “God has already shown the strength of his arm; he has already scattered the proud, brought down the mighty, lifted up the lowly, filled the hungry with good things, and sent the rich away empty-handed… ” MH 243 . With the same faith as Mary, let us become weavers of hope in our world, by sharing who we are and what we have, so that the presence of Jesus may grow among us and his Kingdom may take shape. MH 245
Encyclical Letter of the Holy Father Leo XIV, *Magnifica Humanitas* (May 15, 2026)