The numbers come first: Pope Leo XIV addressed the International Catholic Legislators Network (ICLN) on Friday, warning that artificial intelligence risks becoming 'another vehicle for ideological or economic colonialism' by deepening the dependency of poorer nations on wealthier ones for access to the technology.
The pope described what he called 'a subtle form of domination when algorithms decide who is seen, and who remains invisible, when digital platforms shape public discourse without accountability, and when the dignity of workers is subordinated to the optimization of systems.' He framed such developments as 'a new face of the ancient temptation to domination and mastery without service.'
To counter those risks, Leo called for 'robust legal frameworks, independent oversight, informed users and a political system that does not abdicate its responsibility,' so that 'no single ideology or interest dictates the values embedded in artificial intelligence systems.'
Friday's address built directly on his first encyclical, 'Magnifica Humanitas,' released in May and widely described as the pope's 'AI encyclical.' Political consultant Christopher Hale, founder of the newsletter Letters from Leo, told Fortune the remarks were 'less a new position than a redelivery of ideas already laid out in the encyclical.' Hale noted that few readers work through a 200-page document, and that popes typically surface different sections of an encyclical over weeks and months.
The remarks carry political weight in Washington. President Donald Trump repealed the Biden administration's AI executive order in January 2025 and has pushed to loosen federal AI rules. When 'Magnifica Humanitas' was released, the administration was divided: Vice President JD Vance praised it while others dismissed its warnings.
Leo also tied AI to family formation, arguing the technology 'must never be allowed to erode' the family by 'reducing persons and relationships to data and simulations,' 'flooding young minds with content that distorts desire,' and sustaining 'economic models that make family life economically precarious.' He said AI and technology broadly decrease human interaction, contributing to falling marriage and birth rates.
Hale argued that Leo's religious authority gives him unusual standing against the technology industry. 'Silicon Valley has an opponent that operates on a terrain that they're not used to,' Hale said. 'They're used to dealing in transactional relationships, but Leo XIV represents something of a quagmire for them because he cannot be bought off, he cannot be terrorized, he can't be indicted, he can't be deported.' Hale also noted that criticism of AI data centers has already come 'from all factions, from the left and the right,' but that a unifying language has been missing — a gap he believes Leo's moral framing begins to fill.
CEO Times take: The pope's call for 'robust legal frameworks' and 'independent oversight' is, at its core, a call for more government intervention in a sector that is still finding its competitive footing. Free-market readers should note the tension clearly: the same regulatory architecture Leo envisions could just as easily entrench incumbent platforms and freeze out smaller competitors as it could protect workers or developing-world users. The principle at stake is who writes the rules — and whether Washington, Brussels or the Vatican sets the terms for the most consequential technology of the decade. Capital rewards clear rules, but rules written in moral panic rarely stay clear for long.
