Leo XIV contra the new Babel: Reflections on the pope’s landmark encyclical

Last week, Pope Leo XIV issued Magnifica Humanitas, the first encyclical of his pontificate.  It has received much attention, both positive and negative and in both Catholic and secular media.  Much of the commentary so far strikes me as superficial.  To judge from social media, you’d think the document is primarily devoted to artificial intelligence, with some irrelevant comments about slavery and just war theory arbitrarily tacked on.  You’d also think those comments mark a rupture with traditional Catholic teaching.  None of this is true.  There is no break with traditional teaching.  While artificial intelligence (or AI) gets significant attention, the encyclical is actually devoted to a much larger theme, of which AI is only a part.  And the remarks on slavery and just war theory are not arbitrary, but fit in naturally with this larger theme.  Magnifica Humanitas is in fact a major contribution to the tradition of Catholic social teaching inaugurated by the pope’s namesake Leo XIII in Rerum Novarum.  It is rich in insights, and gives Catholics a sound framework for dealing with the “new things” of our times, just as Rerum Novarum did for Catholics of the late nineteenth century and beyond.