“Magnifica Humanitas”. The Chart of Roman Catholic Humanism and Its Theological Problems

Posted on June 19, 2026 
Filed under Theology

Leonardo De Chirico takes a look at the first encyclical, Magnifica Humanitas, of Leo XIV, Pontiff of the Roman Catholic Church. The encyclical is his response to the rise of Artificial Intelligence.

De Chirico examines the place, in this document, of sin and the Atonement – “In MH the cross is only mentioned once… in a quotation from a 19th century French theologian…”

In summary, he writes,

“The voice of the Pope adds new strength to the choir of those who don’t want to succumb to the technocracy of AI and should be heard by all those who share this concern.

Having said that, the theological vision of MH is embedded in the Roman Catholic account of the nature-grace interdependence. …

The language used is Christian as far as the use of words is concerned, but the meaning is Roman Catholic rather than biblical. This results in doctrinal ambiguity at best…”

– See his reasoning at Vatican Files.