One of the first things Pope Leo said in public after being elected last May was that his choice of name is a deliberate nod to the last Pope Leo, Leo XIII, who reigned from 1878 to 1903, and whose writings, particularly his encyclical Rerum Novarum, laid the foundations of Holy Mother Church’s modern social teaching in response to the industrial revolution. Incidentally, Leo XIII also happens to be the earliest-born person to be captured on video, having been born in 1810; a small but telling detail for a pope often caricatured as being hostile to modernity. In fact, the Church’s relationship with the development of technology has rarely been one of reflexive fear, but rather one of careful scrutiny: asking what the impact of new tools will be on those who must live with them.
9:00 AM
The Pope is asking the right questions about AI
Pope Leo is clear: no technology, however advanced, can replace conscience or relieve us of the moral burden of being human
Luke Collins
6 min read
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