Deus et machina

10 June 2026, The Tablet

Uncritical worship: The Tower of Babel, as depicted in the Bedford Book of Hours

Alamy/Smith Archive

With Leo there is a change of emphasis. He acknowledges AI as a challenge that requires global governance. But he envisions that governance as multilevel and multilateral, involving new forms of cooperation across international, national, and local institutions.

John XXIII’s Pacem in Terris, the first papal encyclical addressed to the Church and the world, captured the global imagination. More than six decades later, Pope Leo’s first encyclical, Magnifica Humanitas, is having a comparable global impact.

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