Author name: amdg

On May 26, 2026, in the New Synod Hall at the Vatican, the antipope Leo XIV (Robert Prevost) presented his first encyclical, Magnifica Humanitas, a document devoted substantially to the impact of digital technologies and artificial intelligence on education and family life. The National Catholic Register reports that the pontiff acknowledges how “rapid technological transformations reveal just how unprepared we are on the educational level,” warning that “the pervasiveness of digital media fosters a culture of immediacy and hyper-stimulation, which gives rise to fatigue, boredom, and apathy concerning the effort required for seeking the truth.” He calls for educating people “to decide when and for what purpose it ought not to be used,” and invokes Plato’s Seventh Letter to argue that “the speed and ease with which answers or summaries can be obtained risk extinguishing the desire to ask questions.” The document further warns of “early and unsupervised exposure to digital devices,” easy access to “violent or degrading content,” “pornographic and hypersexualized material,” and pressures on young people to share intimate images. Leo XIV calls for “an alliance among policymakers, educational institutions, and families,” praises legislative initiatives in Australia, France, and Spain, and urges that schools “offer that which the digital sphere by itself cannot provide, namely a shared time for learning and developing trustworthy relationships.”