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Dear Friends of the Press,

Paulist Press is delighted to announce the arrival of the Paulist edition of Pope Leo XIV's encyclical Magnifica Humanitas ("Magnificent Humanity") that includes an introduction by renowned theologian and Paulist father Ricky Manalo, CSP.

The most significant aspect of this encyclical is that it is the first papal encyclical in Catholic history dedicated specifically to artificial intelligence (AI) and digital technology. Released in May this year and signed on the 135th anniversary of Pope Leo XIII's Rerum Novarum, it presents another major landmark in Catholic Social Teaching. It provides a comprehensive moral framework to ensure that automation serves human dignity rather than replacing it, and as such, it echoes that historic 1891 text that addressed the abuses of the Industrial Revolution.

The introduction offers expert insights and connects complex theology to modern, daily life and bridges historical context with current cultural relevance. Fr. Ricky Manalo co-founded and created CatholicFaithAI.org as a digital pastoral hub for everyday Catholics and was a participant in the Vatican's Builders AI Forum. He employes his vast active ministry to provide an informed Catholic response to the role and place of artificial intelligence in our society, but most importantly, his pastoral experience offers genuine input into the very human issues presented in this encyclical.

Paul McMahon

President & Publisher

Magnifica Humanitas

On Safeguarding the Human Person in the Time of Artificial Intelligence

Pope Leo XIV, foreword by Ricky Manalo, CSP

Pope Leo XIV in his first encyclical surveys the development of Catholic Social Doctrine and shows how it can be applied to protect the dignity of the human person at a time when artificial intelligence is becoming more prevalent.

"In order to protect the human person in the age of artificial intelligence, I believe that today we must once again reflect on the common good, the universal destination of goods, subsidiarity, solidarity and social justice" (46).

"When efficiency becomes the ultimate measure of value, human beings are tempted to see themselves as a project to be optimized rather than as persons called to relationship and communion" (112).

Pope Leo XIV was born Robert Francis Prevost in Chicago, Illinois, USA, and worked in Peru and Italy before becoming pope on May 8, 2025.

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