Pope Leo XIV’s widely anticipated first encyclical on artificial intelligence is here, and it offers a clear path forward to one of the most pressing challenges of our age. But the 42,000-word “Magnifica Humanitas” also serves as a formal launching point for Pope Leo’s vision for contemporary application of Catholic social teaching.

At a time when digital technologies are developing at a rapid and unpredictable pace, every single person must decide if she or he will be: a passive bystander; an unhelpful commentator; an avaricious architect of a new “Tower of Babel”; or a patient, hope-filled builder of a “civilization of love,” Pope Leo XIV said in his first encyclical, “Magnifica Humanitas.”

Pope Leo XIV celebrated Pentecost by highlighting the role of the Holy Spirit in his repeated calls for peace in recent months, saying the spirit also guides the Church to truth amid a world marked by war, division and ideological fragmentation.

Pope Leo XIV advanced the sainthood causes of one woman and five men, including the Maronite patriarch who played an integral role in the establishment of modern-day Lebanon.

A Ukrainian nun serving in a city on the front lines met with Pope Leo XIV during a private audience with members of a papal society, handing him images of two Ukrainian soldiers in captivity and pleading with him to “end the war.”

When he releases his highly anticipated first encyclical “Magnifica Humanitas” May 25, Pope Leo XIV will be present at the press conference — something atypical for such announcements, which are usually handled by senior Vatican officials.

Pope Leo XIV will encounter a living and growing Church when he arrives in Madrid, a revitalization highlighted by his planned blessing of the cornerstones for 12 new parishes, said Cardinal José Cobo of Madrid.

Catholic bishops in Uganda have urged the people to remain calm after the government postponed the annual Martyrs Day celebrations, following an Ebola outbreak in the East African region.

An encyclical is a pastoral letter addressed by the pope to the whole Church. Encyclical letters generally address matters of faith or morals, encourage a particular commemoration or pious devotion, or deal with matters of Church discipline which are to be universally observed.

A group of U.S. bishops, most from the U.S.-Mexico border region, wrote a May 20 letter to members of Congress expressing “grave concern” with budget legislation that would provide an additional $72 billion for immigration enforcement.