SIGNIFICANCE OF THE NAME ‘LEO XIV’

In the history of the Church, from the 6^th century on, the Popes have been accustomed to take on a new name which would encapsulate their vision and mission for the Church and the world during their papacy. As we know it, as soon as the Pope is elected in the Sistine Chapel he is asked by the Cardinal assigned to do this task two questions in Latin, ‘Acceptasne electionem de te canonice factam in Summum Pontificem’ (‘Do you accept your canonical election as Supreme Pontiff?’) and ‘Quo nomine vis vocari’ (‘By what name do you wish to be called?’)

The new Pope doesn’t have much time to decide on the name, but trusting in the Holy Spirit, he chooses the right name for himself that will describe his identity as the Pope and the direction of his papacy. As vouched by the Cardinal electors, the election of the Pope is always an act of the Holy Spirit as we have witnessed in the election of the Popes in our own lifetime in the 20^th and 21^st centuries, and particularly in the election of Pope Francis on March 13, 2013 and of Pope Leo XIV on May 8, 2025. Their election totally belied the general expectations and media projections.

The name ‘Leo’ – against the backdrop of Industrial Revolution & Rerum Novarum

The Holy Father himself has explained the reason for choosing the name ‘Leo’ in an address on May 15, 2025 a week after his election. The name is the ‘key’ to understand his clear commitment to social justice and to warn the world of the dangers of Artificial Intelligence.

In his address he refers to Pope Leo XIII who was elected Pope in 1878 and died in 1903. He was Pope for 25 years and known for his intellectual calibre, keen social consciousness as well deep desire for the unity of the Church, despite his declaration of the Anglican Orders (diaconate, priesthood and episcopate) ‘null and void’ in 1896. However, Pope Leo XIII is best known for his epoch-making encyclical letter Rerum Novarum (‘Of New Things’) promulgated in 1891 to boldly set forth the Church’s stand ‘On the Condition of the Working Classes’. This encyclical laid the foundation for the Catholic Church’s social teaching consistently expounded by subsequent Popes – Pius XI, Pius XII, John XXIII, Paul VI, John Paul II, Benedict XVI and Francis strongly underscoring the theme of justice and peace in the world and the Church’s commitment to proclaiming the Good News of God’s Kingdom.

The 19^th century was the time of the Industrial Revolution in Europe which had transformed the old ‘agriculture-based economy’ into a ‘machine-based economy’ revolutionising the methods of manufacturing and production by introducing new technologies. The handicraft-based methods of production in villages were replaced by the machine-based mass production in factories situated in towns and cities, causing people to migrate en masse to industrialised areas in search of jobs. Thus unemployment, poverty, exploitation, powerlessness,  oppression of the weak, injustice, violation of human rights and human dignity, disruption in families, pollution, destruction of the environment, moral degradation, and many other social evils, which are prevalent even today, became the bane of the so called ‘modern society’. The Industrial Revolution opened the doors to ‘capitalism’ and new social classes came into being divided into ‘upper’, ‘middle’ and ‘lower’ depending on their income which further depended on the type of work performed and material wealth garnered.  The old ‘guilds’, which once brought together people representing different kinds of skilled labour in the old time, disappeared to give place to ‘companies’ which focused on the capitalist principle of ‘highest profit with the least expense’.  

These rapid changes in society due to industrialization and its adverse effects on the working class gave rise to ideologies such as communism and socialism which aimed at overthrowing capitalism and private property.

Through Rerum Novarum, the Church rejects both communism/socialism and capitalism  but emphasizes her right and obligation to make pronouncements on social issues which pertain to the dignity of the human person in the light of God’s Revelation in Jesus Christ. The Church will always speak out fearlessly on issues that belong to the arena of faith and morals.

Rerum Novarum speaks of the ‘revolutionary change’ disturbing the nations of the world making its influence felt not only in the sphere of politics but also ‘practical economics’; the elements of conflicts raging ‘in the vast expansion of industrial pursuits and the marvellous discoveries of science’ and in the ‘changed relations between masters and workmen’; in the ‘enormous fortunes of some few individuals, and the utter poverty of the masses’; ‘the increased self-reliance and closer mutual combination of the working classes’ as also ‘in the prevailing moral degeneracy’.  

The main points of Rerum Novarum are: the necessity of private property as a natural right; the dignity of labour and workers; the mutual responsibilities of employers and workers, including workers’ right to a fair wage and their duty to respect their employers’ property; the right of workers to form unions; the state’s role in protecting the rights of all citizens, especially the poor and vulnerable, and in ensuring workers a living wage and tolerable working conditions; the Church’s role in recognizing societal changes, serving as a moral authority, and caring for the poor; the false solution offered by socialism; the necessity of collaboration to achieve and maintain social harmony.

Another Industrial Revolution – Artificial Intelligence (AI)

The name ‘Leo’ is highly significant for the new Pope because of a similar revolution taking place in the 21^st century like the Industrial Revolution of the 19^th century – the Revolution of Artificial Intelligence, and the Church is called upon to give a response to this challenge from the treasury of her social teachings just as she did to the Industrial Revolution through Rerum Novarum, because Artificial Intelligence is posing new challenges for the defence of human dignity, justice and labour. It is marking a new and significant change in humanity’s engagement with technology which Pope Francis had called ‘epochal change’. It is epochal because the goal of Artificial Intelligence is to imitate the human intelligence that designed it and go beyond it in creativity in such a way that it can generate new ‘artifacts’ with a level of speed and skill that often rivals or surpasses what humans can do such as producing text or images indistinguishable from human compositions. However, this raises fundamental questions about ethical responsibility and human safety, with broader implications for society as a whole. This new situation has prompted many people to reflect on what it means to be ‘human’ and the role of ‘humanity’ in the world.     

On January 14, 2025 Pope Francis had authorized the publication of a ‘Note on the Relationship Between Artificial Intelligence and Human Intelligence ’ titled Antiqua Et Nova (‘With wisdom both ancient and new’) which offers guidelines to understand Artificial Intelligence critically from the perspective of our Christian faith.

We believe that God “gave skills to human beings that he might be glorified in his marvellous works” (Sirach 38:6), and Artificial Intelligence certainly falls in this category of God’s gift to humanity to be used within the ambit of God’s laws, for the upholding of human dignity and for the common good.  Therefore, the human intelligence of a man and woman created in the image and likeness of God (cf. Genesis 1:27), can never be the same as the functional ‘intelligence’ of a machine which is programmed to perform tasks however sophisticated and with super-human efficiency. A machine can perform ‘tasks’ but can never ‘think’, ‘will’, ‘reflect’ and ‘relate’ as a living human person can do. Pope Francis had observed that the very use of the word ‘intelligence’ in connection with AI can prove misleading and risks overlooking what is most precious in the human person. In the light of this, AI should not be seen as an artificial form of human intelligence but as a product of it. It is a great boon for human progress in almost every field, but it has ethical implications, and these have to be taken into account if we want to save the world from ultimate annihilation. The importance of moral responsibility grounded in the dignity and vocation of the human person has always to be emphasized. We have to ensure that AI supports and promotes the supreme value of the dignity of every human being and the fullness of the human vocation. This should be the criterion of discernment for developers, owners, operators, and regulators of AI, as well as its users.

Although AI holds many possibilities for promoting the good of society, we cannot overlook the risks:

-AI can hinder human development and the common good by perpetuating marginalization, discrimination and inequalities.

-AI is often misunderstood as a ‘person’ with a ‘free will’, when in fact it is only a ‘tool’.

-no AI can genuinely experience empathy because true empathy belongs to the relational sphere.

-AI forces workers to adapt to the speed and demands of machines, consequently ‘deskilling’ workers.

-AI replaces human workers leading to benefit for a few and impoverishment of many; workers are reduced to ‘cogs in a machine’.

-AI should not replace the relationship between patients and healthcare providers by leaving patients to interact with machines rather than a human being.

-the extensive use of AI in education could lead to the students’ increased reliance on technology, eroding their ability to perform some skills independently and even affecting their critical thinking.

- use of AI for misinformation, deepfakes and abuse: this is a serious risk because the manipulated content and false information can easily mislead people due to its resemblance to the truth.

-AI is misused for surveillance overreach aimed at exploiting, entering into others’ privacy, restricting others’ freedom, or benefitting a few at the expense of many.

-current AI models and the hard ware required to support them consume vast amounts of energy and water, significantly contributing to CO2 emissions and straining resources.

-the weaponization of AI for warfare can be highly problematic; malicious individuals can misuse the technology.

-AI is perceived as the ‘Other’, greater than humanity itself, with which to share existence and responsibilities, thus substituting AI for God.

In a world marked by AI, we need the grace of the Holy Spirit to look at things with God’s eyes, to see connections, situations, events and to uncover their real meaning. Only the ‘wisdom of the heart’ can illuminate and guide the human-centered use of the AI technology to help promote the common good, care for our ‘common home’, advance the search for the truth, foster integral human development, favour human solidarity and fraternity, and lead humanity to its ultimate goal: happiness and full communion with God. From this perspective of wisdom, believers will be able to act as moral agents capable of using this technology to promote an authentic vision of the human person and society.