Pope Leo XIV released his first encyclical, Magnifica Humanitas , on Monday. The 42,000-word statement is being described by major media outlets as centering on the rise of artificial intelligence and the moral, spiritual, and social challenges that it poses to modern society. Even the encyclical itself says that its topic is “safeguarding the human person in the time of artificial intelligence.” While AI is indeed the central focus of Leo’s writing, it is also a reckoning with the unchecked