Vatican announces ‘disarming technology’ will be theme of next World Day of Peace

(OSV News) — The Vatican announced Aug. 11 that Pope Leo XIV’s message for the 2027 World Day of Peace will focus on “disarming technology” and political leaders’ moral responsibility.

The theme will be “Disarming Technology, Serving Peace. Politics as Preventive Responsibility,” according to the Vatican Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development.

“His Holiness wishes to draw attention to the moral responsibility of those called to serve in the public sphere, and he urges all people to uphold the dignity of the human person and to contribute to the building of peace, beginning by ‘disarming technology,'” the dicastery said in a statement.

The World Day of Peace is celebrated each year on Jan. 1, the solemnity of Mary, Mother of God. The pope provides a message for the occasion, which is sent by the Vatican to foreign governments around the world.

Drawing on Pope Leo’s encyclical, “Magnifica Humanitas,” on artificial intelligence ethics and safeguarding the human person, the message will contain a warning of the risks involved in entrusting military decisions to artificial intelligence.

The announcement comes after Nobel laureates, inspired by the pope’s encyclical, gathered in Rome July 16 to sign a declaration urging a global treaty banning artificial intelligence from nuclear launch systems.

“Pope Leo XIV makes a fervent appeal to the international community to foster shared agreements capable of safeguarding human responsibility and humanitarian principles in situations in which human life and peaceful coexistence among peoples are at stake,” the announcement said.

It will be the 60th World Day of Peace, a tradition instituted by Pope Paul VI, inspired by Pope John XXIII’s encyclical “Pacem in Terris.”

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