Widely expected to be called Magnifica Humanitas (“Magnificent Humanity”), the text has not yet been published, but its (supposed) name alone offers a window into the priorities of this young pontificate.
Since the summer of 2025, Vatican officials have confirmed that Leo XIV has been working steadily on a foundational document.
In November, Cardinal Víctor Manuel Fernández, prefect of the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith, signaled that the encyclical would address artificial intelligence — a subject close to the Pope’s concerns — and “the general situation of society.”
The choice of title -- at least as the Italian press is reporting it -- is telling. Magnifica Humanitas places human dignity at the center, insisting that humanity remains “magnificent” even when threatened by technological acceleration, economic exclusion, or cultural fragmentation.
The phrase also serves as a deliberate nod to the papal name Leo XIV chose upon his election — a clear reference to Leo XIII and his landmark 1891 encyclical Rerum Novarum.
Just as the title hasn't been confirmed by the Vatican, neither has a publication date been announced.
However, many of the social encyclicals of these last 100-plus years have been released on anniversaries of Rerum Novarum: May of 1931, 1961, 1981, to name a few.
A "6" year is another anniversary, so it seems possible that Magnificent Humanity would be released on May 15, 2026. (John Paul II's 1981 social encyclical wasn't released that year till September, but it was slated for May 15 -- until the assassination attempt on May 13 of that year.)
Upheavals answered with principles
When Rerum Novarum appeared, it struck the world like a thunderclap. Leo XIII confronted the upheavals of the industrial age: vast inequality, the concentration of wealth, and the exploitation of workers amid “remarkable progress in the arts and new industrial methods.”
He articulated principles that would anchor Catholic social teaching — the right to private property, just wages, rest from labor, and special protection for the vulnerable.
More than a century later, the conflict has shifted. Today, the tension still lies between capital and labor, but also between human agency and machine intelligence — often within the workplace itself.
Leo XIV has returned to this theme repeatedly since his election, suggesting that the Church is once again preparing to speak decisively into a moment of civilizational change.
Ideas already shared
In June 2025, addressing the Second Conference on Artificial Intelligence, Ethics, and Corporate Governance, the Pope warned of the impact of AI on the neurological and intellectual development of children and young people.
While acknowledging its “extraordinary potential” as a product of human ingenuity, he cautioned that youth must be supported — not hindered — on their path toward maturity and responsibility.
The concern is broader than technology alone.
Speaking in October 2025 to grassroots movements gathered in the Paul VI Hall, Leo XIV declared that “exclusion is the new face of social injustice.”
The phrase resonated as a twenty-first-century echo of Rerum Novarum. Global markets may have spread digital tools everywhere, he observed, but land, housing, and dignified work remain out of reach for millions.
Again and again, the Pope has warned of a certain loss of the sense of the human. Artificial intelligence, he insists, is a tool — never a moral agent. Used without conscience, it can deepen inequality, fuel conflict, and reduce persons to data points.
The ethical measure, he argues, must always be the preservation of “the inviolable dignity of every human being,” along with respect for cultural, spiritual, and social diversity.
If Magnifica Humanitas follows this trajectory, it may well emerge as Leo XIV’s defining contribution: a renewed call to conscience in an age of opaque systems, reminding Christians and the wider world that progress without responsibility is no progress at all.