Magnifica Humanitas: An Important Encyclical for Catholic Parents

Have you read Pope Leo XIV’s encyclical? We’ve put together a discussion guide for nine paragraphs of interest to parents.

“We must ask God for the wisdom to interpret the great trends of our time,” Pope Leo XIV observes in paragraph 4 of the newly published Magnifica Humanitas: On Safeguarding the Human Person in the Time of Artificial Intelligence.

This is what parents are constantly called to do. What wisdom does this new encyclical hold for Catholic parents?

Even if you’ve never read an encyclical before, we encourage you to read this one. Encyclicals are letters from the pope to the whole Church. It’s not just written for bishops, priests, or world leaders. And even though it concerns artificial intelligence, Magnifica Humanitas is not written in technical, scientific language. There are important messages in this encyclical for you and your family to consider.

What Is True Progress?

We must lovingly safeguard the grandeur of humanity bestowed upon us and revealed in its fullness in Christ, the splendor of which no machine can ever replace. True progress always stems from a heart open to others, an intelligence willing to listen and a will that seeks what unites rather than what separates. (15)

How do we define progress and success?

Do we seek ways to let machines take over functions or jobs that should be done by ourselves or other human beings?

Using Scripture as a Standard

The word of God provides reliable standards for establishing paths of justice and opening ways of reconciliation and peace among peoples. (23)

Do we consider Scripture an important resource when we need to make decisions, especially decisions that affect relationships?

An Educational Alliance for the Digital Age

In an era when truth is often distorted in order to serve particular interests and communication strategies, the field of education assumes decisive importance. Yet rapid technological transformations reveal just how unprepared we are on the educational level. The pervasiveness of digital media fosters a culture of immediacy and hyper-stimulation, which gives rise to fatigue, boredom and apathy concerning the effort required for seeking the truth. (139)

How can parents, schools, and society work together as a true educational alliance to form young people who can navigate digital culture with wisdom, virtue, and a deep sense of their human dignity?

Education About Technology Includes Discussing When Not to Use It

Educating people about the use of AI, then, involves teaching them to decide when and for what purpose it ought not to be used. The speed and ease with which answers or summaries can be obtained risk extinguishing the desire to ask questions, which is a process that bears fruit only over time. ... We must learn, then, how to exercise restraint in the use of AI and to protect our young people from the promise of the perfect machine, from that subtle temptation which renders human thought seemingly superfluous precisely when it is most needed. (140)

Do we expect our children (or ourselves) to master new skills and learn bodies of knowledge instantly, without questioning, practicing, and testing those skills and knowledge?

Do we (or our children) expect or hope that a perfect machine will be able to do all the work for us?

Our Children Need Supervision When They're Online

Having a personal mobile device at too early an age and using it without adult supervision can exacerbate young people’s vulnerabilities, foster addiction and expose them to isolation, bullying and cyberbullying, as well as to pressures to share intimate images or sensitive information. (141)

If your children are old enough to use tablets or mobile phones, what limits do you place on their use?

Teaching Our Children About Work

Work remains a fundamental dimension of the human experience, for not only is it a means of sustenance, but it is also a context for expression, relationships and contributing to the community. (154)

Work is not merely a source of income but a crucial sphere in which identity is formed, friendships and relationships are forged, practical responsibilities are learned and one’s vocation is discerned. (167)

How do we teach our children and model for them the idea that work is good when modern technology seems dedicated to helping us avoid work?

Families and Young People: The Social Conditions for Hope

The family is a primary social good. Founded on the enduring union between a man and a woman, it is the first environment in which all persons develop their potential, become aware of their dignity and learn the earliest forms of truth and goodness, internalizing the habits that prepare them for life in society. (165)

How can parents intentionally guide their children to recognize and uphold their God-given human dignity in a technology-driven world that often reduces the person to data, image, or utility?

Seeking and Loving the Truth

Let us remain faithful to the truth! Living amid incessant flows of information, opinions and images, we know how easy it can be to influence decisions and preferences through increasingly sophisticated algorithms. In this context, it is imperative to cultivate hearts that love the truth, prefer what is right despite the most appealing content and pursue wisdom rather than immediate results. We must always keep before us the truth about God and humanity, just as Christ has revealed them to us. We must lay aside an individualistic and technical view of humanity, as if reality were mere matter to be shaped according to selfish interests, whether individual or collective. (237)

How do we encourage our children to “cultivate hearts that love the truth [and] prefer what is right”?

Pope Leo XIV's Discussion of Technology's Effects on the Culture

I appreciate Pope Leo’s context for the effects of technology on the culture, particularly the use of digital technology. He recognizes technology as a tool and emphasizes that tools are to be used by the human race to improve circumstances, not manipulate the natural order. The potential for misuse of this new tech can lead us and others into sin, and my big takeaway is that regulation is in order.

The first-tier protection from this danger is formation of the person, and this begins very early in the home. Teach children about their inherent dignity and worth. Allow ethical use of these technologies, modeled by the parents, so when children find themselves with unsupervised use, they may avoid the circumstances of abusing the technology and disrespecting others. This is a tall order for parents, especially when so much of the cultures encourages and rewards the pursuit of self-indulgence with no boundaries.

Let us pray for prudence, justice, fortitude, and especially temperance as we learn to navigate the fast-paced implementation and integration of this new technology in our lives. (MJ)

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Copyright 2026 Maria Morera Johnson and Barb Szyszkiewicz
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