Pope Leo XIV issued an encyclical this month addressing the ethical risks of artificial intelligence and its impact on human freedom [1].

The document marks a significant intervention by the Vatican into the global AI debate, signaling that the church views data-driven behavioral manipulation as a fundamental threat to human dignity.

In the encyclical, the Pope said that data used to profile, predict, and influence behavior without a person's awareness can undermine freedom [1]. He specifically highlighted the danger of AI systems that discriminate against vulnerable populations, suggesting that unchecked algorithmic profiling creates new forms of societal marginalization [1].

This release follows a period of high-level engagement between the Vatican and the tech industry. Executives from Meta, Google, and Amazon met with Vatican officials on April 29, 2026 [2]. These meetings were part of a lobbying push by the companies ahead of the formal release of the AI encyclical [2].

The document was reported as released on May 27, 2026 [1]. It serves as the first formal papal teaching specifically dedicated to the governance and ethics of artificial intelligence [1].

The Vatican's position emphasizes a need for transparency in how AI models are trained and deployed. By focusing on the "invisible" nature of predictive AI, the Pope said that the ability to steer human behavior without consent is a violation of moral autonomy [1].

While the tech industry has sought to influence the Vatican's stance, the final document prioritizes the protection of the marginalized over the operational flexibility of AI developers [1].

“Data used to profile, predict, and influence behavior without awareness can undermine freedom.”

The issuance of this encyclical positions the Vatican as a moral regulator in the AI space, moving beyond technical safety to address the philosophical implications of behavioral engineering. By explicitly linking data profiling to the erosion of free will, Pope Leo XIV is challenging the core business models of major tech firms that rely on predictive analytics to influence user behavior.