WORDS FROM FATHER YOHANES: Magnifica Humanitas

By Father Yohanes Akoit

Pope Leo XIV has released the new encyclical letter Magnifica Humanitas, On Safeguarding the Human Person in the Age of Artificial Intelligence. In this encyclical, Pope Leo reflects on our current situation, where he observes a tendency to honor human dignity in the wrong way. He identifies this tendency by examining the history of our humanity from time to time through the papal teaching of each pope, identifying its symptoms and contextualizing its meaning in our contemporary time. Based on that living reality, in dialogue with history, cultures, and science, Pope Leo now realizes that the same phenomenon is happening in our time. Aware of that urgency, Pope Leo invites all of us to protect human dignity in the age of artificial intelligence. Pope Leo is trying to stimulate our epistemic awareness and responsibility to be involved in this mission by presenting to us the idea in two ways. According to him, each path may appear reasonable and aligned with the goal of honoring human dignity. Yet he urges us to be wise and to allow our actions to be guided by Christ, who is the way, the truth, and the life. Through Christ, we will be led to make the right decision.

Pope Leo describes the first option as the perspective of building the Tower of Babel (Gen 11:1-9). According to Pope Leo, this perspective symbolizes building our lives solely on human faculties and self‑sufficiency. And as we know from that story, once the city was built, communication broke down, languages were confused, and chaos and enmity arose among human beings. The second option is called the perspective of rebuilding the ruined city of Jerusalem (Nehemiah 2-3). There, the prophet Nehemiah did not rebuild the city suddenly; he first fasted and prayed, listened to others, and then rebuilt the city through shared responsibility. Based on these two options, Pope Leo says that we now live in a time shaped by the first option. We build and form our lives based on our own resources and self‑sufficiency. We assume that any limitation or infirmity must be corrected. We believe that striving for perfection glorifies our dignity. But in reality, this is a mistake. By choosing this path, we fall into the phenomena of transhumanism (and posthumanism).

Transhumanism comes from the Latin trans, meaning “beyond” or “across,” and humanism, meaning that the human being is the center of value and meaning. Thus, transhumanism means going beyond our human condition. It suggests that our current condition is not our final destination. Through AI and technology, we can upgrade ourselves to become more intelligent, live longer, overcome biological death, undergo genetic editing, and more. We are taught that by achieving this, we glorify our dignity. But according to Pope Leo, this simply repeats the tragedy of the Tower of Babel. We use technology to judge and dictate God’s creation. We treat life as something to be perfected and surpassed, making our present life seem less desirable. In contrast, Pope Leo teaches that human limitations such as defects, illness, old age, and vulnerability; are the doorway to honor our dignity. Through these wounded conditions, we develop virtues such as caring for the sick, defending human rights, patience, prayer, solidarity, and more. The dignity of our life flows from these human limitations and our wounded humanity. For this reason, Pope Leo insists that humanity, in all its woundedness, should never be replaced by AI or technology. Pope Leo urges us to disarming our mentality from AI and cultivate a healthy realism. This does not mean ignoring suffering, but avoiding the tendency to view life as something to be perfected. Instead, we should seek practical and realistic ways to be grateful for the gift of life, build positive relationships, strengthen trustworthy institutions, and deepen our prayer life.

Father Yohanes Akoit is pastor of St. Julian and St. Anthony Catholic churches in Kentucky.