“Therefore, the primary choice is not between a
“yes” or “no” to technology,
but
rather between constructing Babel or rebuilding Jerusalem;
between
a power that claims to dominate the heavens and a people who work together in
the presence of God to rebuild the walls of fraternal coexistence”.
Pope Leo XIV
MAGNIFICA HUMANITAS
OF HIS HOLINESS
POPE LEO XIV
ON SAFEGUARDING THE HUMAN PERSON
IN THE TIME OF ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE
….
Two biblical images
7. In order to answer these questions and discern how
to navigate responsibly the era of AI, I would like to bring to mind two scenes
from the Bible: the construction of the Tower of Babel (cf. Gen 11:1-9)
and the rebuilding of the walls of Jerusalem (cf. Neh 2–6).
The story of Babel appears in the Book of Genesis, at the origins of humanity,
immediately after the genealogies of Noah’s sons. After settling in a plain in
the land of Shinar, the people decided to build a city and a tower “with its
top in the heavens” (Gen 11:4). Fearing being scattered across the
earth, they sought to guarantee stability and power for themselves, and above
all to “make a name” for themselves. It was an impressive feat: a single
language, a single technology, a single direction. However, the project
concealed a profound danger. It was a project conceived without reference to
God, supported by a uniformity that eliminated diversity and that chose
homogenization over communion. When a city is built on pride and the claim to
self-sufficiency, communication breaks down, languages are confused and people
no longer understand each other. The result is not unity, but dispersion. Babel
thus reveals the limits of any effort that, however grandiose, arises from
self-affirmation, sacrifices human dignity for efficiency and aspires to reach
heaven without God’s blessing.
8. The Book of Nehemiah, in turn, opens at a time of
great vulnerability in the history of ancient Israel. After the Babylonian
exile, a portion of the people returned to Jerusalem, but the city was still in
ruins, the walls collapsed and the gates burned (cf. Neh 1–2).
Nehemiah, a Jew in the service of the Persian King Artaxerxes, received news of
the disastrous state of his ancestral city. Before taking action, he fasted,
prayed and interceded for the people. He then asked the king for permission to
return to Jerusalem and, upon arriving, examined the destroyed areas in
silence. He did not impose solutions from above. He convened the families,
assigned each of them a section of the wall to rebuild, listened to their
concerns, coordinated their efforts and addressed any opposition. The narrative
shows how the city is reborn, not through the initiative of one man, but
through the shared responsibility of all: men, women, priests, artisans, heads
of households and young people all play a part. It is an undertaking with God
at the center, which rebuilds relationships before rebuilding with stones.
Thus, ancient Jerusalem rediscovers a common language — not one of uniformity,
but one of communion, namely the harmony that arises when all persons assume
their own role and recognize that their strength comes from the Lord.
9. In light of these two images, the Holy Spirit
challenges us today regarding our relationship with technology and the ongoing
digital revolution. Scientific discoveries are talents entrusted to humanity so
that they may bear fruit (cf. Mt 25:14-30). Technology has the
power to heal, connect, educate and protect our common home; but it can also
divide, exclude and generate new forms of injustice. In the abstract,
technology in and of itself is not a solution to humanity’s problems, just as
it is not inherently evil. In practice, however, technology is never neutral,
because it takes on the characteristics of those who devise, finance, regulate
and use it. Therefore, the primary choice is not between a “yes” or “no” to
technology, but rather between constructing Babel or rebuilding Jerusalem;
between a power that claims to dominate the heavens and a people who work
together in the presence of God to rebuild the walls of fraternal coexistence.
10. We must, then, avoid the “Babel syndrome,” namely
the idolatry of profit that sacrifices the weak, a uniformity that neutralizes
differences, and the pretense that a single language — even a digital one — can
translate everything, including the mystery of the person, into data and
performance. The risk of dehumanization — of building a future that excludes
God and reduces the other to a means — is an ancient and ever-new temptation
that today takes on a technical guise. Instead, let us choose the “way of
Nehemiah,” which highlights the importance of working together to make the City
of God a safe place for returning exiles. Rebuilding today means recognizing
that, precisely from the plurality of voices and visions which, even though
they sometimes remind us of the confusion caused by the diversity of spoken
languages, a bright possibility emerges. Indeed, this is the possibility of
building together, of transforming diversity into a resource and of making
listening and dialogue the common ground upon which to cultivate justice and
fraternity. Within this shared task, Christians discover their unique role of
guiding actions toward God so that, in his light, pluralism does not dissipate
into disorder, but instead, through the practice of synodality, it becomes the
space in which humanity rediscovers its solid foundations and its final end. In
the Book of Revelation, John sees the New Jerusalem “coming down out of heaven
from God” (Rev 21:2) as a gift for all humanity. And this vision of
grace is an invitation for us Christians to work together in order to foster a
peaceful, just and dignified life in community within today’s “cities.”
….
Encyclical Letter of His Holiness Leo XIV Magnifica
Humanitas (15 May 2026)
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