From Rerum Novarum to Magnifica Humanitas: Artificial Intelligence, Integral Human Development and the Preservation of the Human Person in the Early Magisterium of Leo XIV

Abstract

Since the publication of Rerum Novarum, the Church has interpreted the major transformations of modernity in light of human dignity and the common good. In the context of the sixtieth anniversary of Populorum Progressio, this article offers a pedagogical-anthropological reading of selected texts from the early magisterium of Leo XIV on artificial intelligence, interpreted as an emerging and still developing magisterial framework. In light of the subsequent publication of Magnifica Humanitas, the study does not seek to present a closed or definitive account of Leo XIV's thought, but rather to identify the initial anthropological and educational coordinates through which his pontificate addresses the challenge of preserving the human person in the age of artificial intelligence. Using a hermeneutical-interpretative approach, it analyses a corpus of addresses and messages devoted to education, youth, technological ethics, and the mission of the university. The study identifies emerging anthropological and pedagogical emphases through which Leo XIV approaches artificial intelligence not only as a technical tool, but also as a cultural environment that reconfigures identity, attention, and relationality. It argues that the Church's response to the digital revolution requires a solid anthropology centred on human dignity, discernment, character formation, and the irreplaceable role of the educator.

Keywords: Artificial Intelligence. Catholic Social Teaching. Human Dignity. Integral Development. Leo XIV.