Cardinal Blase Cupich, Archbishop of Chicago, has described Pope Leo XIV’s first encyclical, Magnifica Humanitas, on safeguarding the human person in the age of artificial intelligence, as “a new lens through which to read the entire Social Doctrine of the Church.” His interview with Vatican News was published by L’Osservatore Romano on 6 November 2026.
The Cardinal said the encyclical’s main contribution is its challenge to humanity to choose between building “the new Jerusalem or another Tower of Babel.” He pointed to the image of Nehemiah, who rebuilt the city through the shared responsibility of all, in contrast with a city built on pride and self-sufficiency, where communication breaks down.
He stressed that the Pope presents this as Church doctrine, “not simply a body of teaching that Catholics may choose to accept or ignore.” Comparing the digital revolution with the Industrial Revolution addressed by Leo XIII’s Rerum Novarum, he noted that this technology “has the potential to overtake our capacity to control it,” and said the Pope is giving a wake-up call to act with urgency. He added that students in Chicago reacted warmly and showed keen interest in reading the document.
