Local Catholic leaders reflect on Pope Leo XIV’s vision for AI 

As Catholics continue to absorb Pope Leo XIV’s first encyclical, one takeaway stands out to Deacon Frederick “Fritz” Bauerschmidt: the pope is trying to help the church understand a technological revolution while it is still unfolding.

The theology professor at Loyola University Maryland in Baltimore said “Magnifica Humanitas” (“Magnificent Humanity”) differs from many landmark church documents that looked back on social and economic changes after they had transformed society. Instead, Pope Leo is asking Catholics to grapple with artificial intelligence in real time, as its effects on education, work and human relationships are still taking shape.

“Rather than reflecting on it, he’s telling us to try to understand what it is and what it is not,” said Deacon Bauerschmidt, who serves at the Cathedral of Mary Our Queen and the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary, both in Baltimore. “Pope Leo has done as good a job as anybody has done so far as to think about this.”

Released May 25, the more-than-80-page encyclical has prompted discussion among Catholic leaders in the Archdiocese of Baltimore, many of whom say its central message is straightforward: Technology must always serve the human person, not the other way around.

“The main thing the Holy Father is concerned with is losing sight of the human person,” said Father Zack Crowley, pastor of the Pastorate of Our Lady in Edgewater and West River. “Are we pushing aside people for productivity? You can’t lose sight of the common good.”

Father Crowley said the church has a responsibility to help humans navigate a technology that is becoming increasingly woven into daily life, often in ways people may not recognize.

He pointed to the encyclical’s opening reflections on two biblical stories: the construction of the Tower of Babel in Genesis and the rebuilding of Jerusalem’s walls in the Book of Nehemiah. The stories offer contrasting visions of human achievement, he said – one focused on self-fulfillment and the other on the common good.

“It was really a powerful image that he attached,” Father Crowley said. “What happens to people? He makes it clear that it doesn’t have to be that way.”

Deacon Bauerschmidt said one of the encyclical’s strengths is that it addresses AI before society has fully reckoned with its consequences.

He applauded Pope Leo for being “pretty quick out of the starting gate” on the issue. Unlike Pope Leo XIII’s 1891 encyclical Rerum Novarum, which reflected on the social consequences of the Industrial Revolution, Pope Leo XIV is addressing a technological revolution that is still unfolding.

AI, Deacon Bauerschmidt said, is a “sophisticated tool” that is a “little tricky” because it can imitate human activities, particularly language, with remarkable effectiveness.

“Chatting with one of these … is like chatting with a person,” Deacon Bauerschmidt said. “You can’t see these things as replacements of human beings. You can never have a real friendship or romantic relationship with one of these.They are not persons.”

The deacon noted that the pope also raises concerns about AI’s impact on employment, education and the environment. In schools, he said, educators “have no idea how to deal with this” because AI is already “woven into so many tools” students use.

Those questions are already being addressed in Catholic schools across the Archdiocese of Baltimore.

The schools embrace the responsible and ethical use of AI as a tool to help students become “thoughtful 21st-century learners and global citizens” who are “grounded in faith and respect for every person,” said School Sister of Notre Dame Patricia McCarron, superintendent of archdiocesan schools.

“Guided by Catholic social teaching, the Maryland Catholic Conference’s principles on artificial intelligence and Pope Leo XIV’s call to ensure that emerging technologies always serve the dignity of the human person, we recognize both the opportunities and responsibilities that accompany these tools,” Sister Patricia said in an email. “Generative AI can enhance learning, creativity and productivity when used appropriately, but it can never replace the relationships, moral formation, critical thinking and human judgment that are at the heart of Catholic education.”

Schools, she said, will “prioritize policies and practices that uphold human dignity, strengthen authentic relationships, support rather than diminish the value of human labor and promote the common good.”

Father Gerard Francik, pastor of Sacred Heart in Glyndon, said the pope also recognizes the positive possibilities AI offers when used responsibly.

“It is intelligent only as much as we feed it,” Father Francik said. “If we do it in a good way, it can be a great boon for us.”

In a letter to parishioners of the Archdiocese of Baltimore, Archbishop William E. Lori echoed the encyclical’s emphasis on keeping technological progress grounded in moral wisdom.

Drawing on the work of Catholic philosopher and theologian Bernard Lonergan, Archbishop Lori noted that human flourishing “depends upon our willingness to be attentive, intelligent, reasonable and responsible,” and that “intelligence alone is not wisdom.”

The archbishop wrote that while a machine can summarize information and identify patterns, “it cannot engage in moral self-transcendence. It cannot love. It cannot sacrifice. It cannot discern truth in the deepest human sense.” As Lonergan argued, “Authentic knowing requires more than calculation; it requires conversion-intellectual, moral and spiritual conversion.”

“That distinction matters enormously today,” Archbishop Lori said.

The pope’s encyclical, the archbishop added, warns that technological advances without moral responsibility “risks deepening exclusion and injustice rather than advancing authentic human development.”

At the same time, Archbishop Lori emphasized that the church “does not approach AI from a position of fear.” He pointed to the Maryland bishops’ pastoral letter, “The Face of Christ in a Digital Age,” which stated that “AI can become a tool” when it is “directed toward the common good” and must always “serve the person” and “never diminish or replace human dignity.”

Ultimately, the archbishop suggested that the greatest challenge posed by artificial intelligence is not technological but spiritual. Human beings create these tools, and “only human beings – guided by conscience, community and grace – can ensure technological progress remains truly human.”

Email Katie V. Jones at kjones@CatholicReview.org

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