Reuters
source: reuters
Catholic popes have been urging global leaders to address social justice issues for 135 years across some two dozen major documents that many of the world’s 1.4-billion-faithful can cite by their two- or three-word titles.
“Rerum Novarum” from Leo XIII in 1891 called for better conditions for workers in the Industrial Revolution. “Pacem in Terris” from John XXIII in 1963 appealed for nuclear disarmament amid the Cold War. “Laudato Si'” from Francis in 2015 pleaded for swift action to address climate change.
Leo XIV has now added his name to the pantheon, issuing a fervent manifesto on Monday titled “Magnifica Humanitas” (Magnificent Humanity), urging global governments to slow down the development of AI systems.
“Like other popes before him, Pope Leo is responding to one of the most pressing social issues of his time,” John Thavis, a longtime Vatican correspondent who covered three papacies, told Reuters.
“Clearly (Leo) wants to help shape the debate over technology and AI, by emphasizing the moral and ethical arguments that centre the human person,” said Thavis.
A year into his papacy, Leo formally signed the text about AI on May 15, the 135th anniversary of his predecessor’s publishing of “Rerum Novarum”, firmly tying the newest papal document urging world action on social issues to the papal text widely considered to have done that first.
