Author's Foreword
As a Catholic Christian and someone actively working in technological innovation and artificial intelligence, I follow the Church's growing engagement with this sector with keen interest.
An interest rooted in the curiosity to understand how faith, science, and technology intersect on fundamental questions concerning the future of humanity and society.
This analysis does not aim to pass judgment, but to explore the reasons, initiatives, and contributions of the Church to the AI debate through publicly documented activities and official texts.
1. Why is the Church interested in artificial intelligence?
Artificial intelligence is transforming how we work, communicate, learn, and make decisions.
Its applications now encompass core sectors such as healthcare, education, finance, media, public administration, and security.
The Catholic Church follows this transformation attentively, primarily for its consequences on human dignity, individual freedom, and social relationships.
This is not a sudden development. Throughout history, the Church has continuously engaged with scientific progress, medicine, bioethics, and broad societal transformations.
However, artificial intelligence introduces genuinely novel questions.
What distinguishes human intelligence from artificial intelligence? Which decisions can be legitimately delegated to machines? Who bears accountability for autonomous systems? How can technological progress avoid exacerbating social inequality?
These inquiries concern not merely computer science, but philosophy, ethics, law, and social responsibility.
2. Pope Francis and the Rome Call for AI Ethics
A pivotal milestone occurred on 28 February 2020, when the Pontifical Academy for Life launched the Rome Call for AI Ethics.
Initial signatories included Microsoft, IBM, the FAO, and representatives of the Italian Government.
The initiative outlines six foundational principles for responsible AI development: transparency, inclusion, accountability, impartiality, reliability, security, and privacy, with the latter evaluated jointly.
The objective is to foster a technological paradigm that respects human rights and serves the common good.
In subsequent years, the Rome Call expanded its dialogue to additional organizations and diverse religious traditions.
In June 2024, Pope Francis addressed the G7 session dedicated to artificial intelligence, emphasizing the critical necessity of retaining decision-making responsibility firmly in human hands.
His address marked a key moment: artificial intelligence entered directly into high-level dialogue between the Holy See and global leaders.
3. The RenAIssance Foundation and engagement with industry
In 2021, the RenAIssance Foundation was established under the Pontifical Academy for Life.
The foundation fosters initiatives focused on AI ethics, encouraging constructive dialogue among public institutions, universities, research centers, and technology corporations.
Over time, major enterprises including Microsoft, IBM, Cisco, and Salesforce endorsed the Rome Call for AI Ethics.
These endorsements reflect shared commitments to responsible technology principles, without implying commercial partnerships or equity stakes in the foundation.
Direct engagement with the private sector represents a defining aspect of the Church's approach: rather than merely observing technological shifts from afar, it dialogues directly with those engineering and deploying AI systems.
4. The Church organizes internally
The Church's focus on artificial intelligence extends beyond publishing documents and convening conferences.
The Holy See has progressively mobilized internal bodies and specialized experts to conduct research, strategic analysis, and coordination.
In May 2026, Pope Leo XIV approved the establishment of the Interdicasterial Commission on Artificial Intelligence via a Rescriptum ex audientia Sanctissimi (signed on 12 May and made public on 16 May), upon proposal by the Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development.
The Commission convenes representatives from Holy See bodies with competencies across doctrine, culture, education, communication, life, sciences, and social sciences: the Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development, the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith, the Dicastery for Culture and Education, the Dicastery for Communication, the Pontifical Academy for Life, the Pontifical Academy of Sciences, and the Pontifical Academy of Social Sciences.
Initial coordination for the first year was entrusted to the Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development, led by Cardinal Michael Czerny. The Commission's mandate is to foster collaboration, information exchange, shared review of activities and projects, and the definition of policies regarding the use of artificial intelligence within the Holy See.
This development is significant: it shows that reflection on artificial intelligence has acquired a dedicated organizational and governance structure within the Church.
This does not imply direct ecclesiastical software development, but demonstrates clear institutional responsibility allocated to the field.
5. Antiqua et Nova: human versus artificial intelligence
On 28 January 2025, the joint Note Antiqua et Nova was published by the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith and the Dicastery for Culture and Education.
The text addresses the relationship between artificial and human intelligence, distinguishing computational machine capabilities from the holistic depth of human experience.
Key topics include moral accountability, labor, healthcare, education, media integrity, privacy, environmental stewardship, and military applications.
Particular focus is placed on preventing automated systems from eroding human agency, freedom, and fundamental dignity.
The document does not advocate technology rejection, but urges careful discernment regarding the purposes guiding AI adoption.
6. Leo XIV and the primacy of the human person
Under the pontificate of Leo XIV, the dialogue between the Church and artificial intelligence continues to gain prominent focus.
In May 2026, the first encyclical of the pontificate, Magnifica Humanitas, was promulgated, signed on 15 May to commemorate the 135th anniversary of Leo XIII's Rerum Novarum, dedicated to safeguarding the human person in the era of artificial intelligence.
The encyclical frames technological transformation squarely within Catholic Social Teaching, addressing dignity, justice, moral agency, and the common good.
It concentrates heavily on the societal implications of AI for humanity and the imperative of anchoring scientific advancement to ethical contemplation.
7. Contributions from scholars and clergy
The Church's engagement with artificial intelligence also manifests through ecclesiastical figures actively dialoguing with academia, government, and industry.
In Italy, prominent voices include Father Paolo Benanti, a Franciscan friar of the Third Order Regular and professor of technology ethics, recognized for introducing and developing the concept of algor-ethics in his writings (notably Oracoli. Tra algoretica e algocrazia, 2018) to ethically guide algorithmic processes, while serving on national and international AI advisory bodies, and Father Luca Peyron, a priest of the Archdiocese of Turin actively fostering bridge-building between digital culture, university research, and enterprise innovation.
Two distinct trajectories illustrating that ecclesiastical reflection on artificial intelligence is expressed through concrete scientific, educational, and institutional work.
Father Gian Maria Comolli, a priest, also contributes to this discussion as the author of the Manuale di bioetica per tutti (Editoriale Romani, 2020), which includes a chapter titled “Intelligenza Artificiale e Robotica” (“Artificial Intelligence and Robotics”).
8. Interfaith dialogue
Reflection on artificial intelligence is not restricted to Catholicism.
The Rome Call has progressively engaged leaders from other global religious traditions, encouraging shared ethical consensus to accompany technical innovation: first with the joint signing by Abrahamic religions (Judaism and Islam) in Rome in January 2023, and subsequently expanding to Eastern religions (Buddhism, Shinto, and Hinduism) in Hiroshima in July 2024.
The nexus between artificial intelligence, human dignity, accountability, and peace forms common ground across faith traditions, respecting distinct theological convictions.
This collaborative approach underscores that the questions raised by AI transcend the boundaries of individual disciplines and cultures.
9. Future challenges: autonomous AI agents and accountability
The rapid evolution of artificial intelligence introduces urgent governance questions regarding human-machine dynamics.
The expanding autonomy of AI agents, capable of utilizing tools, processing unstructured information, and executing multi-step tasks, places accountability at the forefront.
When autonomous systems participate in high-stakes decisions, how do we guarantee meaningful human control?
Additional concerns include labor market disruptions, unequal access to compute, personal data governance, and technological power concentration.
Furthermore, the ubiquity of increasingly persuasive conversational assistants may reshape how humans seek counsel, information, and personal support.
Addressing these frontiers requires sustained dialogue across theology, scientific research, industry, and policymaking.
10. Conclusions
The Catholic Church's engagement with artificial intelligence represents the modern evolution of an enduring dialogue between faith, science, technology, and society.
From the Rome Call for AI Ethics and the RenAIssance Foundation, to Antiqua et Nova and the institutional initiatives of Pope Leo XIV, an increasingly structured commitment has emerged.
The Church has chosen to address this transformation through magisterial documents, dedicated internal governance bodies, scholarly research, and multi-stakeholder dialogue.
Its central contribution coalesces around one vital question: how can we ensure that technological progress remains firmly at the service of the human person?
The answer does not belong exclusively to religion, science, or politics.
It demands an inclusive dialogue where diverse expertise and sensibilities illuminate the opportunities, limits, and responsibilities of emerging technologies.
Artificial intelligence shows us what machines can achieve. Ethical reflection reminds us what we, as human beings, choose to do with that capability.
Primary Sources
Rome Call for AI Ethics, Pontifical Academy for Life, 28 February 2020:
https://www.romecall.org/
RenAIssance Foundation, institutional documentation:
https://www.romecall.org/renaissance-foundation/
Pope Francis, Address to the G7 Session on Artificial Intelligence, Borgo Egnazia, 14 June 2024:
https://www.vatican.va/content/francesco/it/speeches/2024/june/documents/20240614-g7-intelligenza-artificiale.html
Antiqua et Nova, Joint Note of the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith and the Dicastery for Culture and Education, 28 January 2025:
https://www.vatican.va/roman_curia/congregations/cfaith/documents/rc_ddf_doc_20250128_antiqua-et-nova_it.html
Interdicasterial Commission on Artificial Intelligence, Holy See, Rescriptum ex audientia, May 2026:
https://press.vatican.va/content/salastampa/it/bollettino/pubblico/2026/05/16/0416/00814.html
Magnifica Humanitas, Encyclical Letter of Leo XIV, 15 May 2026:
https://www.vatican.va/content/leo-xiv/it/encyclicals/documents/20260515-magnifica-humanitas.html
Algor-ethics reference documentation, Paolo Benanti, Oracoli. Tra algoretica e algocrazia, Luca Sossella Editore, 2018; Pontifical Academy for Life, 2020.
See beyond. Understand deeply. Make it possible.