Pope Leo XIV has approved the creation of a new Vatican commission on Artificial Intelligence to coordinate the Holy See’s response to the rapidly expanding technology and its implications for human dignity, integral development, and the Church’s own internal use of Artificial Intelligence. The decision was announced by the Holy See Press Office on May 16 after a May 3 audience with Cardinal Michael Czerny, prefect of the Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development.
The Vatican said the pope acted in light of the development of Artificial Intelligence in recent decades, its rapid acceleration in general use, its potential effects on the human person and humanity as a whole, and the Church’s concern for the dignity of every human being, particularly in relation to integral human development. The commission will bring together representatives from the Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development, the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith, the Dicastery for Culture and Education, the Dicastery for Communication, the Pontifical Academy for Life, the Pontifical Academy of Sciences, and the Pontifical Academy of Social Sciences.
The head of each participating institution will delegate a representative to the commission. Its coordination will be entrusted for one year, renewable, to the Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development. After that, the Roman Pontiff will entrust coordination to one of the participating institutions, again for a period of one year. The coordinating institution will facilitate collaboration and the exchange of information among members on activities and projects related to Artificial Intelligence, including policies governing its use within the Holy See, while also promoting dialogue, communion, and participation.
The move comes as the Vatican prepares for the release of Leo’s first encyclical, which is expected to deal extensively with Artificial Intelligence and its ethical, social, and economic consequences. Reports have indicated that the document will likely present Artificial Intelligence as one of the defining moral questions of the present age, drawing a parallel with the social upheavals of the Industrial Revolution addressed by Pope Leo XIII in Rerum Novarum. Leo has stressed the issue since the start of his pontificate, saying in an address to the College of Cardinals on May 10, 2025, that developments in Artificial Intelligence pose new challenges for the defense of human dignity, justice and labor.
