National Catholic Register/EWTN News portal — May 18, 2026 — announces that “Pope” Leo XIV (Robert Prevost) will publish his first encyclical, titled Magnifica Humanitas (“Magnificent Humanity”), on May 25, 2026. The full title is Magnifica Humanitas: On the Protection of Human Dignity in the Age of Artificial Intelligence. The document was signed on May 15, the 135th anniversary of Leo XIII’s Rerum Novarum. The presentation will feature Cardinal Víctor Manuel Fernández, Jesuit Cardinal Michael Czerny, Anna Rowlands, Christopher Olah (co-founder of the AI company Anthropic), and Léocadie Lushombo, with concluding remarks by Secretary of State Cardinal Pietro Parolin. Leo XIV stated he chose his name to follow Leo XIII in addressing “another industrial revolution” — artificial intelligence — and to defend “human dignity, justice and labor.” The very title, Magnifica Humanitas, reveals the theological bankruptcy of the conciliar sect: it is not Christ who is magnificent, but humanity itself — a direct inversion of the Gospel and a symptom of the cult of man that defines the post-conciliar apostasy.
The Title Alone Is a Theological Scandal: Magnifica Humanitas as Anti-Gospel
Before a single paragraph of this encyclical is read, its title constitutes a blasphemous inversion of the order of creation. Magnifica Humanitas — “Magnificent Humanity” — places the creature at the center of veneration, not the Creator. The Church has always reserved the word magnificat for God alone: Magnificat anima mea Dominum — “My soul doth magnify the Lord” (Luke 1:46). The Blessed Virgin Mary, the highest of all creatures, did not magnify herself; she magnified the Lord. To apply this sacred language to “humanity” as such — fallen, corrupted, and redeemed only through the Precious Blood of Christ — is not merely imprudent. It is **a direct assault on the First Commandment and a manifestation of the cult of man that Pius XI identified as the root of all social evils.**
In Quas Primas (1925), Pius XI wrote with unmistakable clarity: “this kind of outpouring of evil has afflicted the whole world because very many have removed Jesus Christ and His most holy law from their customs, from private, family, and public life.” The encyclical Magnifica Humanitas does not merely “remove” Christ — it replaces Him with humanity itself as the object of magnification. This is not Catholic social teaching. It is **naturalistic humanism dressed in ecclesiastical vestments**, the very error that the Syllabus of Errors condemned in its opening propositions: that human reason without reference to God is “the sole arbiter of truth and falsehood, and of good and evil” (Proposition 3), and that “all the truths of religion proceed from the innate strength of human reason” (Proposition 4).
The Ghost of Rerum Novarum Haunted by Modernism
The conciliar sect deliberately chose May 15 — the anniversary of Leo XIII’s Rerum Novarum (1891) — to sign this document. This is presented as continuity, but it is in fact **a parody of continuity**, the very “hermeneutics of continuity” that Benedict XVI (Joseph Ratzinger) himself promoted as a deception. Leo XIII’s Rerum Novarum was written within the framework of unchanging Catholic doctrine: the sovereignty of Christ the King over all societies, the subordination of labor and capital to the moral law, the rights of the Church as a perfect society independent of civil authority, and the supernatural end of man. Leo XIII wrote: “The Church, established by Christ as a perfect society, demands for itself by a right belonging to it, which it cannot renounce, full freedom and independence from secular authority” (Quas Primas).
By contrast, the encyclical Magnifica Humanitas is presented not as a sovereign act of the Church teaching with authority, but as a collaborative enterprise with the world. The speakers at its presentation include Christopher Olah, co-founder of Anthropic — a Silicon Valley AI company. Let the gravity of this sink in: **the conciliar sect invites a technology executive, a representative of the very industry that threatens human dignity, to present a papal encyclical on human dignity.** This is not the Church teaching the world; this is the world teaching the Church. It is the exact inversion of the divine commission: “Going therefore, teach ye all nations… teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you” (Matt. 28:19-20).
Leo XIII, in Rerum Novarum, addressed the social question with the authority of one who speaks ex cathedra in the social order, subordinating all economic activity to the supernatural end of man. The conciliar sect, by contrast, addresses artificial intelligence — a product of human pride and the libido sciendi — with the deference of a supplicant seeking relevance in a world that has long since rejected Christ the King. **The Church does not need the approval of Silicon Valley to teach on human dignity.** Human dignity, properly understood, flows from man’s creation in the image and likeness of God, his redemption by Christ, and his call to supernatural beatitude. It is not a concept to be negotiated with tech entrepreneurs.
The Omission That Condemns: Christ the King, the Supernatural, and the Moral Law
Every statement in the article, and every omission within it, reveals the theological void at the heart of the conciliar sect. Consider what is entirely absent from the announcement:
1. There is no mention of Jesus Christ as the source of human dignity. The phrase “human dignity” appears repeatedly, but it is severed from its theological root. In Catholic doctrine, man possesses dignity because he is created ad imaginem Dei (Gen. 1:27), redeemed by the sacrifice of Calvary, and called to eternal beatitude. Pius XI taught: “Christ possesses dominion over all creatures, not by force but by essence and nature” (Quas Primas, citing St. Cyril of Alexandria). Human dignity is not an autonomous, self-standing value — it is entirely dependent on man’s relationship with God through Christ. Magnifica Humanitas, by magnifying humanity as such, commits the error of pantheism and naturalism condemned in the Syllabus (Propositions 1-2): it treats humanity as self-sufficient, as its own end.
2. There is no mention of the supernatural order. The defense of “human dignity” in the age of AI is framed entirely within the natural order — labor, justice, technology. But the Church has always taught that man’s dignity is primarily supernatural: he is a child of God, destined for heaven, and his greatest dignity lies in sanctifying grace. To speak of “human dignity” without reference to grace, to the sacraments, to the state of the soul before God, is to reduce man to a purely natural being — which is precisely the error of naturalism condemned by Pius IX.
3. There is no mention of sin, repentance, or the moral law. Artificial intelligence poses moral questions — but the conciliar sect is constitutionally incapable of addressing moral questions in Catholic terms, because it has abandoned the concept of mortal sin, the necessity of repentance, and the binding force of the moral law. The Syllabus condemned the proposition that “moral laws do not stand in need of the divine sanction” (Proposition 56). Yet the entire framework of the conciliar sect’s engagement with technology is precisely this: moral questions are treated as technical problems to be managed, not as occasions of sin requiring conversion.
4. There is no mention of the Church’s sovereign authority over the social order. Pius XI taught that the Church is a perfect society with full independence from secular authority, and that Christ’s kingship extends over all nations and all aspects of life — including technology. Yet the conciliar sect presents its “guidance” on AI as one voice among many in a pluralistic dialogue, not as the binding moral teaching of the Kingdom of Christ on earth. This is the error condemned in the Syllabus, Proposition 19: “The Church is not a true and perfect society, entirely free… but it appertains to the civil power to define what are the rights of the Church.”
The Speakers: A Pantheon of Modernism
The choice of speakers at the encyclical’s presentation is itself a theological statement — and a damning one.
Cardinal Víctor Manuel Fernández, prefect of the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith, is the architect of Fiducia Supplicans, the document that opened the door to blessings of irregular unions — a direct violation of the Church’s immutable teaching on marriage and the moral law. He is a disciple of the Argentine theological school that produced the Bergoglian revolution. His presence signals that Magnifica Humanitas will continue the conciliar sect’s pattern of reducing doctrine to pastoral sentiment.
Jesuit Cardinal Michael Czerny, prefect of the Dicastery for Integral Human Development, is a protégé of Bergoglio and a champion of the conciar sect’s signature causes: climate migration, “integral ecology,” and the democratization of Church governance. The very name of his dicastery — “Integral Human Development” — is a modernist slogan that reduces the Church’s mission to naturalistic humanitarianism.
Christopher Olah, co-founder of Anthropic, represents the technocratic elite that the conciliar sect courts with desperate eagerness. The Church does not need AI executives to teach her doctrine on human dignity. **The presence of Olah at a papal encyclical presentation is an act of intellectual capitulation** — the Church prostrating itself before the idols of the modern world, seeking relevance at the price of truth.
Anna Rowlands and Léocadie Lushombo represent the academic theological establishment that has been thoroughly colonized by modernism. Their presence ensures that the encyclical will be received and interpreted within the framework of progressive Catholic academia — the same academy that has spent decades dismantling Catholic doctrine under the guise of “critical scholarship.”
The Date: Symbolic Manipulation and the Hermeneutics of Continuity
The signing of Magnifica Humanitas on May 15 — the anniversary of Rerum Novarum — is presented as a gesture of fidelity to Leo XIII. In reality, it is **an act of symbolic manipulation designed to lend the prestige of a great pope to a document that represents everything he fought against.** Leo XIII wrote Rerum Novarum as a sovereign act of the Church’s magisterial authority, asserting the rights of Christ the King over the social order. The conciliar sect invokes his name while promoting a document that treats human dignity as an autonomous, naturalistic value — the very error Leo XIII spent his pontificate combating.
This is the “hermeneutics of continuity” in its most brazen form: the appearance of fidelity concealing a revolution in substance. St. Pius X, in Pascendi Dominici Gregis (1907), identified this as the defining tactic of the Modernists: “They endeavour to make it appear that they are returning to the teaching of the Fathers and the Church, when in reality they are advancing novelties.” The conciliar sect has been employing this tactic for over sixty years, and Magnifica Humanitas is its latest and most brazen iteration.
The Deeper Apostasy: The Cult of Man in the Abomination of Desolation
The title Magnifica Humanitas must be understood within the broader context of the post-conciliar apostasy. The conciliar sect has systematically replaced the worship of God with the worship of man. The “reform” of the liturgy replaced the propitiatory sacrifice of Calvary with a communal meal centered on the assembly. The “reform” of catechesis replaced the teaching of doctrine with experiential sharing. The “reform” of ecclesiology replaced the hierarchical Church of Christ with a democratic community. And now, the “reform” of social teaching replaces the sovereignty of Christ the King with the autonomy of “human dignity.”
Pius IX, in the Syllabus of Errors, condemned the proposition that “the Roman Pontiff can, and ought to, reconcile himself, and come to terms with progress, liberalism and modern civilization” (Proposition 80). Yet this is precisely what the conciar sect has done — and what Magnifica Humanitas represents. It is the Church “reconciling herself” with the digital revolution, with artificial intelligence, with the technocratic order — not by subjecting these things to the law of Christ, but by baptizing them with Catholic-sounding language.
The Syllabus also condemned the proposition that “the Church ought to be separated from the State, and the State from the Church” (Proposition 55). Yet the entire framework of the conciliar sect’s engagement with technology assumes this separation: the Church does not claim authority over the digital order; she merely offers “guidance” and “moral reflection” as one participant among many in a pluralistic conversation. This is not the Church of Christ. It is **a non-governmental organization with a religious heritage, seeking relevance in a world that has moved on.
Conclusion: The Magnificent Lie
Magnifica Humanitas is not a Catholic document. It is a modernist manifesto dressed in ecclesiastical Latin. Its title alone — magnifying humanity instead of God — reveals its true nature. Its speakers — technology executives, progressive academics, and modernist cardinals — reveal its true allegiance. Its omissions — Christ the King, the supernatural order, sin and repentance, the Church’s sovereign authority — reveal its true emptiness.
The faithful who cling to the integral Catholic faith must see this document for what it is: **the latest fruit of the abomination of desolation that has occupied the Vatican since 1958.** It is not a call to defend human dignity; it is a call to worship humanity. It is not a defense of the faith; it is a surrender to the world. Pius XI warned: “When God and Jesus Christ were removed from laws and states and when authority was derived not from God but from men, the foundations of that authority were destroyed” (Ubi Arcano, quoted in Quas Primas).
Let the faithful reject this magnificent lie. Let them return to the only source of true human dignity: Jesus Christ, true God and true Man, Who alone is magnificent — Magnificus in sanctis suis — and Who alone can restore the order that the conciliar sect has destroyed. Non nobis, Domine, non nobis, sed nomini tuo da gloriam — “Not to us, O Lord, not to us, but to Thy name give glory” (Ps. 113:9). Humanity is not magnificent. God is.
Source:
Vatican to Publish Pope Leo XIV’s First Encyclical May 25 (ncregister.com)
Date: 18.05.2026