VaticanNews portal reports on May 29, 2026, that Archbishop Ronald Hicks of New York praised Pope Leo XIV’s first encyclical “Magnifica humanitas” as “timely,” “relevant,” and “essential for generations to come,” particularly regarding artificial intelligence’s impact on work and human dignity. The archbishop emphasized that “AI is here to stay” and celebrated the document’s engagement with industry, its call for “ethical governance,” and its focus on “what does it mean to be human,” drawing parallels to Leo XIII’s Rerum novarum. This interview reveals the conciliar sect’s complete capitulation to technological modernism, replacing the Church’s supernatural mission with a naturalistic humanism that seeks to baptize the digital revolution rather than proclaim the eternal truths of Christ the King.
The Abandonment of Supernatural Mission for Technological Pragmatism
The most striking feature of Archbishop Hicks’ commentary is the complete absence of any supernatural framework for understanding the challenges posed by artificial intelligence. When asked about the significance of “Magnifica humanitas,” the archbishop stated: “I feel that the Holy Father has his finger on the pulse of the real issues of what’s going on in this world. He’s addressing them. AI is here to stay.” This statement encapsulates the fundamental error of post-conciliarism: the reduction of the Church’s mission to engagement with temporal affairs rather than the salvation of souls for eternal life.
The Catholic Church, as established by Christ, is a societas perfecta—a perfect society—whose primary mission is to lead souls to eternal salvation through the preaching of the Gospel, the administration of the sacraments, and the teaching of immutable truth. As Pope Pius XI declared in Quas Primas: “The Kingdom of our Redeemer encompasses all men… His reign extends not only to Catholic nations or to those who, by receiving baptism according to law, belong to the Church, even though their erroneous opinions have led them astray or discord has separated them from love, but His reign encompasses also all non-Christians, so that most truly the entire human race is subject to the authority of Jesus Christ.” The Church’s mission is not to ensure that AI serves “the common good” in a naturalistic sense, but to ensure that all men recognize the kingship of Christ and are saved from eternal damnation.
Archbishop Hicks’ enthusiasm for the encyclical’s “practical roadmap” for addressing job market concerns reveals the complete inversion of priorities that characterizes the conciliar sect. When young people ask, “Am I studying for something right now, for a job, for a career that’s not going to exist in the next decade or so because AI is going to take it over?” the true pastoral response should be to remind them of the vanity of earthly pursuits and the necessity of preparing for eternity. Instead, the neo-church offers “ethical governance” and “shared responsibility”—bureaucratic solutions that ignore the fundamental truth that “what does it profit a man if he gains the whole world but loses his own soul?” (Matthew 16:26).
The Heresy of “Dialogue” and the Democratization of Truth
Archbishop Hicks praised the encyclical’s approach to dialogue, stating: “What I also appreciate about what he’s set up in this encyclical is that he’s taking dialogue seriously. He wants to have conversations around AI and what’s the best way to use it.” This emphasis on “dialogue” is a hallmark of the conciliar revolution and represents a fundamental departure from the Church’s teaching authority.
The Catholic Church does not engage in “dialogue” with the world to determine truth; she proclaims truth as received from Christ and teaches it with authority. As Pope Pius IX condemned in the Syllabus of Errors, proposition 80: “The Roman Pontiff can, and ought to, reconcile himself, and come to terms with progress, liberalism and modern civilization.” The very notion that the Church should “have conversations” about AI to determine “the best way to use it” implies that truth is discovered through consensus rather than revealed by God and taught by the Magisterium.
This democratization of truth is further evidenced by Hicks’ observation that “even people who aren’t practicing faithful Catholics are engaged in this conversation.” The implication is that the Church’s teaching derives its validity from its reception by the world rather than from its divine origin. This is precisely the error condemned by St. Pius X in Pascendi Dominici Gregis, where he described the Modernist principle that “the Church listening cooperates in such a way with the Church teaching in defining truths of faith, that the Church teaching should only approve the common opinions of the Church listening” (proposition 6 of Lamentabili sane exitu).
The Naturalistic Reduction of Human Dignity
When discussing the encyclical’s focus on “what does it mean to be human,” Archbishop Hicks stated: “I also like that in the encyclical that Pope Leo is really reflecting on what does it mean to be human… I think there are some good questions being posed on what does it mean to be human? It’s being embraced by everyone because at the end of the day, we’re all human.” This statement reveals the complete naturalization of the concept of human dignity that characterizes post-conciliar theology.
In Catholic teaching, human dignity is not a self-evident truth discoverable through philosophical reflection; it is a supernatural reality rooted in the fact that man is created in the image and likeness of God, redeemed by the Precious Blood of Christ, and called to eternal beatitude. As Pope Pius XI taught in Quas Primas: “May all men, prone to forgetfulness, consider how much our Savior cost us: You were redeemed not with corruptible gold or silver… but with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot. We no longer belong to ourselves, for Christ has bought us with a great price.”
The conciliar sect’s emphasis on “human dignity” divorced from its supernatural foundation is a form of the cult of man condemned by the pre-conciliar Magisterium. When Hicks states that “we’re all human” as if this were sufficient ground for ethical reflection, he ignores the fundamental distinction between the state of grace and the state of sin, between the faithful and the infidel, between those who belong to Christ and those who serve Satan. This is the very indifferentism condemned by Pope Pius IX in proposition 17 of the Syllabus of Errors: “Good hope at least is to be entertained of the eternal salvation of all those who are not at all in the true Church of Christ.”
The False Parallel with Rerum Novarum
Archbishop Hicks drew an explicit parallel between “Magnifica humanitas” and Leo XIII’s Rerum Novarum, stating: “I think this encyclical, for decades and generations to come is going to be used in a similar way. AI is here to stay. It’s going to change everything.” This comparison is not only historically inaccurate but theologically revealing of the conciliar sect’s fundamental misunderstanding of both documents.
Rerum Novarum was a document that addressed the social question within the framework of Catholic social teaching, affirming the rights of workers while insisting on the primacy of the spiritual order and the authority of the Church. It was written by a true pope who recognized the Church’s mission to teach, govern, and sanctify all nations. The encyclical “Magnifica humanitas,” by contrast, is produced by a conciliar sect that has abandoned its supernatural mission in favor of engagement with temporal affairs.
Moreover, the comparison reveals the conciliar sect’s obsession with novelty and relevance—the very errors condemned by St. Pius X in Lamentabili sane exitu. Proposition 58 states: “Truth changes with man, because it develops with him, in him, and through him.” The notion that a new encyclical is needed for each new technological development implies that Catholic teaching must constantly evolve to remain “relevant”—a direct contradiction of the Church’s teaching on the immutability of dogma.
The Silence on the True Danger: Modernist Apostasy
Perhaps the most damning aspect of Archbishop Hicks’ interview is what it omits entirely. There is no mention of the true crisis facing the Catholic Church: the modernist apostasy that has infected the conciliar sect since the Second Vatican Council. There is no warning that the structures occupying the Vatican are led by heretics and apostates who have abandoned the faith of their predecessors. There is no call to return to the unchanging Tradition of the Church.
Instead, Hicks expresses gratitude to the antipope for “giving us in such an early stage of his pontificate, something like this, of substance and something that’s relevant and needed.” This statement reveals the complete spiritual blindness of those who have accepted the conciliar revolution. The true substance needed by the faithful is not another document on artificial intelligence but a return to the Most Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, the preaching of the Gospel without compromise, and the recognition that the post-conciliar structures are not the Catholic Church but the abomination of desolation standing in the holy place.
As the Defense of Sedevacantism demonstrates, a manifest heretic cannot be pope. The antipopes from John XXIII to Leo XIV have promoted heresies, approved religious liberty, embraced false ecumenism, and undermined the Church’s teaching authority. To praise such a figure for addressing artificial intelligence while ignoring his apostasy is to commit the gravest of errors—placing temporal concerns above eternal truth.
The Idolatry of Technology and the Rejection of Divine Providence
The entire framework of “Magnifica humanitas” as presented by Archbishop Hicks reflects the idolatry of technology that characterizes the modern world. The assumption that AI will “change everything” and that the Church must respond to this change reflects a worldview in which technological progress is the primary force shaping human destiny—a direct contradiction of the Catholic teaching on Divine Providence.
The Church has always taught that God governs all things according to His wise providence, and that the course of history is determined not by technological developments but by the fidelity or infidelity of men to God’s law. As Pope Pius IX taught in the Syllabus of Errors, proposition 1: “There exists no Supreme, all-wise, all-provident Divine Being, distinct from the universe, and God is identical with the nature of things, and is, therefore, subject to changes.” The conciliar sect’s obsession with AI reflects a practical atheism in which God is irrelevant to the “real issues” of the world.
The true response to the challenges of artificial intelligence is not “ethical governance” or “shared responsibility” but a return to the social kingship of Christ. As Pope Pius XI declared in Quas Primas: “If men were ever to recognize Christ’s royal authority over themselves, both privately and publicly, then unheard-of blessings would flow upon the whole society, such as due freedom, order, and tranquility, and concord and peace.” Only when individuals, families, and states submit to the reign of Christ will the dangers of technology be overcome—not through human ingenuity but through divine grace.
Conclusion: The Neo-Church’s Irrelevance to Eternal Salvation
The interview with Archbishop Ronald Hicks reveals the complete spiritual bankruptcy of the conciliar sect. By focusing on artificial intelligence while ignoring the eternal truths of the faith, by promoting “dialogue” instead of proclamation, by reducing human dignity to a naturalistic concept, and by praising an antipope for his “leadership,” the neo-church demonstrates that it has abandoned its divine mission.
The faithful must recognize that the structures occupying the Vatican are not the Catholic Church but a paramasonic structure dedicated to the destruction of the faith. The true Church endures in those who profess the integral Catholic faith, who reject the conciar revolution, and who remain faithful to the unchanging Tradition of the Church. As St. Pius X warned in Pascendi Dominici Gregis, Modernism is the “synthesis of all errors,” and the conciliar sect is its fullest manifestation. The response to this crisis is not engagement with artificial intelligence but a return to Christ the King, the Most Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, and the immutable truths of the Catholic faith.
Source:
Archbishop Hicks of New York: 'Magnifica humanitas' to shape future generations (vaticannews.va)
Date: 29.05.2026