Pope Leo addresses just war theory, Catholic participation in slavery in first encyclical
thedialog.org
Pope Leo XIV's first encyclical weaponizes centuries-old Just War Theory against AI, forcing a reckoning with how Catholic moral philosophy handles threats it never imagined.
Just War TheoryNatural Law TheoryEthics of TechnologyMoral Philosophy
Theory Briefing
- Pope Leo XIV's debut encyclical frames AI as a civilizational threat, invoking Just War Theory to set moral limits on its use.
- The Pope acknowledges Catholic participation in slavery as a historic moral failure, using it to warn against repeating ethical blind spots with new technology.
- By linking AI governance to natural law and human dignity, Leo XIV positions the Church as a moral referee in the global tech race.