Revolutions in Technology from Leo XIII to Leo XIV: Friend or Foe?

Abstract

This article considers the ethical implications of technological revolutions from Pope's Leo XIII to Leo XIV. Both faced unprecedented social, cultural, and economic changes, ushered in by new technologies that radically transformed society. Many innovations have benefited humanity, but there is need for human evaluation, regulation, and scrutiny of new technologies if human dignity and the common good are to be protected. Ethical analysis must therefore accompany emerging technological movements. This article begins with a brief overview of the Catholic Church's social teaching; it then examines Pope Leo XIV's recent encyclical, Magnifica Humanitas, with particular concentration on its anthropological foundations and the impact of technology on war; finally, some concluding remarks argue for the continued relevance of the Church's social teaching in this technological moment.

Keywords: Rerum novarum. Magnifica humanitas. Antiqua et nova. Human Dignity. Technocratic Paradigm.