This week on a special “Inside the Vatican” roundtable, a discussion of “Magnifica Humanitas,” Pope Leo’s groundbreaking first encyclical on protecting the human person in the age of artificial intelligence. Host Colleen Dulle sits down with her co-host and senior Vatican correspondent, Gerard O’Connell, as well as America’s president and editor in chief, Sam Sawyer, S.J.

They discuss the document’s key takeaways, how it is being received in Silicon Valley, Pope Leo’s challenge for every Catholic in the A.I. age and much more. 

Links:

Read “Magnifica Humanitas”

Pope Leo’s first encyclical tackles A.I., power and human dignity

Pope Leo XIV makes historic apology for the Catholic Church’s role in legitimizing slavery

Why Pope Leo’s new encyclical quotes Gandalf: Literary images of hope and faith in ‘Magnifica Humanitas’

A capitalist (priest) reads ‘Magnifica Humanitas’

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Pope Leo released his encyclical, Magnifica Humanitas, on “safeguarding the human person in the time of artificial intelligence” today, May 25.

(Read the encyclical here. And find America Magazine's extensive coverage of the encyclical here.)

Pope Leo presented the encyclical at the Vatican along with the panel of experts, including Christopher Olah, a co-founder of one of the world’s leading AI developers, Anthropic.

In a speech at the presentation, Leo stressed that the encyclical had been born out of a process of listening–to scientists and engineers developing AI; political leaders, parents, and teachers; and people concerned about autonomous weapons systems and various forms of exclusion happening on the basis of mass data gathering.

Leo recaps the evolution of Catholic Social Teaching through its major documents and by explaining its key principles, in many places anticipating and rebutting criticisms that the church should either stay out of politics or completely rule it.

He then moves on to the explicit examination of AI, its development and its effects on humanity in the spheres of education, labor, technology addiction, democracy and many other areas, giving concrete recommendations on how AI development could be better supervised by various configurations of local and international civil, religious and educational authorities. He denounces repeatedly the ways in which A.I. will exacerbate global inequalities, and how it is already concentrating power and decision-making in the hands of a minority of powerful individuals.

Leo stresses that, for all of us, the ethics of AI cannot be simplified into “good use of A.I. is good, evil use of A.I. is evil”—AI is not, he says, a morally neutral tool, but “embodies choices and priorities through what it measures, ignores and optimizes, and how it classifies people and situations.” In other words, the moral discernment of AI cannot merely look at the uses to which it is put, but also how it is designed and what vision of the human person and society” is embedded into it .

As expected, Leo turns to the use of A.I. in war. In a particularly interesting paragraph, he dismisses just war theory as “outdated,” saying it has “all too often been used to justify any kind of war” and that “Humanity possesses far more effective and capable tools for promoting human life and resolving conflicts, such as dialogue, diplomacy and forgiveness.”

The document ends with a long meditation on peace, in which Leo outlines “five paths toward daily and public responsibility.”

Magnifica Humanitas includes challenges and fruitful insights for everyone no matter their position in society, and we highly recommend giving it a read. You can find our full coverage, with many forthcoming analysis pieces, at AmericaMagazine.org, and tune in for an episode later this week in which we’ll dig deeper into this major encyclical.

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This week on “Inside the Vatican,” Colleen Dulle and Gerard O’Connell look ahead to Pope Leo’s forthcoming encyclical, “Magnifica Humanitas,” which is rumored to be a long document dealing with themes of artificial intelligence and humanity. Ahead of the document’s expected release on May 25, Gerry and Colleen recap what is already known about the document, the Vatican’s previous work on A.I. and how encyclicals are written.

Links:

Pope Leo will publish first encyclical, ‘Magnifica Humanitas,’ on preserving humanity in the A.I. age on May 25

Bishop Flores: Pope Leo’s AI encyclical is coming. Don’t let ChatGPT read it for you.

Explainer: Papal documents and their (different) levels of authority

Interview: Bishop Paul Tighe on the Vatican’s response to AI

What does the Vatican know about A.I.? A lot, actually.

Pope Leo’s encyclical comes just in time: AI is raising questions only religion can answer.

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This week on “Inside the Vatican,” Gerard O’Connell and Colleen Dulle discuss U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio’s visit to Pope Leo XIV, along with recent developments between the Vatican and the Society of St. Pius X, which has committed to illicitly ordain bishops without the Vatican’s approval. In the second part of the show, Colleen and Gerry look at the pope’s visits to Pompeii and Naples, and Gerry explains why he thinks Pope Leo’s forthcoming encyclical won’t be published as expected on May 15.

Links from the show:

Vatican warns SSPX leaders of excommunication over ‘schismatic act’ of ordaining bishops

Pope Leo meets with Marco Rubio amid Trump’s personal attacks

Poll: Most Americans disapprove of Trump’s attacks on Pope Leo

Pope Leo prays for end to ‘fratricidal hatred’ as he celebrates anniversary in Pompeii

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One year ago today, Leo XIV was elected the first pope from the United States of America. A year into his papacy, we examine how the U.S. evolved from a nation with a long history of anti-Catholicism to one welcoming an American-born pope, and why the cardinals defied a longstanding taboo against a pope from a global superpower.

Interviews include:

- Kathleen Sprows Cummings, the John A. O’Brien Collegiate Professor of American Studies and History at the University of Notre Dame

- Christopher Lamb, CNN Vatican Correspondent and author of The Outsider: Pope Francis and the Battle to Reform the Church and American Hope: What Pope Leo XIV Means for the Church and the World

- J.D. Long García, senior editor at America

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This week on “Inside the Vatican,” Gerry O’Connell gives Colleen Dulle an inside look at Pope Leo XIV’s visit to four African countries. Between speaking out against corruption in Cameroon, denouncing inequality in Angola and visiting a prison in Equatorial Guinea, Gerry notes that Pope Leo never strayed from his central message of peace and justice—even when a Truth Social post from U.S. President Donald Trump threatened to overshadow it.

0:00 Intro

1:02 Why did Pope Leo go to Africa?

5:20 Pope Leo visits the basilica of Augustine

10:00 Pope Leo’s messages to Algeria

14:57 Pope denounces corruption in Cameroon

22:40 Leo visits conflict zone in Cameroon

27:10 Leo urges church to speak out in Angola

31:07 Angola’s unequal economy

34:44 Equatorial Guinea gives Leo ‘colorful welcome’

36:49 Pope Leo’s memorable prison visit

41:47 Pope Leo in-air press conference

47:41 Outro and credits

Links:

Pope Leo walks in the footsteps of St. Augustine in Hippo

Pope Leo to Cameroon’s leaders: Break the ‘chains of corruption,’ invest in young people

Pope Leo denounces those who use the name God for military gain

Interview: Jesuit provincial on what Pope Leo’s visit meant for Cameroon

Pope Leo: I am ‘not trying to debate the president’

Pope Leo tells Angola’s Catholic leaders: ‘Never cease to denounce injustices.’

Pope Leo calls on leaders to ‘bridge the gap’ between poor and rich in Equatorial Guinea

Asked about regime change in Iran, Pope Leo says, ‘I cannot be in favor of war.’

Pope Leo speaks on same-sex blessings, migration and more on plane back to Rome

Pope Leo prays with Archbishop of Canterbury Sarah Mullally in historic encounter, vows dialogue

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This week on “Inside the Vatican,” Archbishop Joseph Marino, former president of the Pontifical Ecclesiastical Academy which trains Vatican diplomats, joins Colleen Dulle to give a crash course on Vatican Diplomacy: Who are nuncios? What do they do? And what difference do they really make?

Before the interview, Colleen also gives some updates on the week’s Vatican news.

00:00 Pope Leo wraps his trip to Africa

2:57 Meet Archbishop Joseph Marino

6:38 Nuncios, the Vatican's ambassadors

14:00 Do Nuncios have to be bishops?

18:25 Political diplomacy and Vatican interests

24:40 Vatican diplomacy before the Iraq war

27:08 The Vatican's diplomatic toolkit

30:15 Pope Leo's diplomatic approach

Links:

Pope Leo: I am ‘not trying to debate the president’

Pope Leo in Angola: ‘Put the common good before partisan interests’

Pope Leo to Angolans: ‘Build a country where old divisions are overcome forever’

Pope Leo tells Angola’s Catholic leaders: ‘Never cease to denounce injustices.’

Pope Leo remembers ‘the great gift’ of Pope Francis on the first anniversary of his death

Pope Francis remembered by those who knew him

Pope Leo’s delicate task in Equatorial Guinea: Bless the faithful, not the regime

Pope Leo calls on leaders to ‘bridge the gap’ between poor and rich in Equatorial Guinea

Pope Leo tells inmates ‘you are not alone’ during Equatorial Guinea prison visit at end of Africa tour

Pope Leo’s powerful lesson in vulnerable leadership

Pope Leo at year one: The progress of an American pope

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This week on “Inside the Vatican,” America Editor-in-Chief Fr. Sam Sawyer, SJ, joins Vatican Correspondent Colleen Dulle and Executive Editor Ashley McKinless for a roundtable discussion on the recent comments President Trump and other administration officials have made about Pope Leo, and the pope’s response given en route to his tour of four African countries.

In the first part of the show, Colleen gives an update on the papal journey across Africa.

0:00 Intro

0:25 Pope Leo in Algeria

1:26 Pope Leo in Cameroon

3:00 President Trump's words for Pope Leo

4:20 Pope Leo's criticism of war

5:40 Pope Leo's response to Trump

7:50 U.S. Bishops respond to Trump

8:47 Reactions to Trump's tirade

10:30 Did Trump influence Leo's election?

13:25 Don't take the President's bait

17:05 Impact on U.S.-Vatican relation

Links:

Interview: What Pope Leo’s visit means for Algeria’s tiny Catholic population

Pope Leo’s first trip to Africa: what you need to know

Pope Leo in Algeria: ‘The future belongs to men and women of peace’

Pope Leo walks in the footsteps of St. Augustine in Hippo

Pope Leo on plane to Cameroon: St. Augustine invites us to search for God and truth

Pope Leo to Cameroon’s leaders: Break the ‘chains of corruption,’ invest in young people

Trump is trying to distract us from Pope Leo’s calls for peace. Don’t take the bait.

South Africa’s Cardinal Brislin: Trump cannot silence Pope Leo or the church

US bishops’ doctrine chair defends church’s just war tradition after JD Vance comments

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This week on “Inside the Vatican,” Colleen and Gerry recap a packed two weeks of Vatican news, covering Pope Leo’s first Holy Week celebrations and his comments on President Trump’s threat to wipe out ‘an entire civilization.’

After this episode was recorded, reports were published recounting a contentious meeting at the Pentagon between the nuncio to the United States, Cardinal Christophe Pierre, and Trump administration officials. Read more here: https://www.americamagazine.org/news/2026/04/09/vatican-pentagon-free-press/ 

Chapters:

0:00 Intro

1:01 Pope Leo’s message to the wealthy in Monaco

3:14 Pope says God ‘rejects’ the prayers of warmakers

7:53 Pope Leo washes 12 priests’ feet on Holy Thursday

12:01 Pope carries the cross through Colosseum

15:07 Cardinal Pizzaballa denied access to Holy Sepulchre

20:13 Pope Leo’s Good Friday call with Zelenskyy

22:30 Pope Leo’s Easter appeal for peace

25:11 Leo calls Trump’s Iran threat ‘unacceptable’

30:17 Pope Leo’s trip to Algeria

33:41 Leo to visit Cameroon, Angola and Equatorial Guinea

37:01 Outro and Credits

Links:

Is there a Catholic revival? Pope Leo seems to think so.

Palm Sunday: Cardinal Pizzaballa blocked by Israeli police from Holy Sepulchre as Pope Leo denounces war in Rome

Pope Leo’s Holy Thursday homily: ‘In this dark hour of history,’ do not shy away from your mission

The meditations at Pope Leo’s first Way of the Cross at Rome’s Colosseum: Connecting Christ’s Passion to modern suffering

On Good Friday, Pope Leo speaks with presidents of Israel and Ukraine, calling for an end to war

Pope Leo’s first Easter ‘Urbi et Orbi’ message: ‘Let those who have weapons lay them down’

Pope Leo: Trump’s threat to destroy Iran ‘truly unacceptable’

Pope Leo XIV to embark on 10-day Africa tour and trips to Spain and Monaco

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In March 2026, the Vatican’s doctrine office released its final report on women’s participation in the life and leadership of the Catholic Church. The report brings to a close the two-year work of Study Group 5, which, as part of the Synod on Synodality, was tasked with studying women’s ministries and leadership. In this special roundtable conversation, editors at America magazine discuss the report’s content and proposals, and ask if the document changes the status quo for women in the Catholic Church.

Featuring:

Ashley McKinless, executive editor and co-host of the “Jesuitical” podcast

Kerry Weber, executive editor

Colleen Dulle, Vatican correspondent and co-host of the “Inside the Vatican” podcast

Molly Cahill, associate editor

0:00 The Vatican’s final report on women and ministry

4:23 Women’s reactions to the report

11:28 New ministries for women?

20:05 The horizons and limits of women’s authority

30:30 Will women be involved in decision-making?

Links:

⁠The final synod report on women: what it says, what it means and what’s next⁠

⁠Where the women deacons question stands at the Vatican⁠

⁠Full Report of Study Group 5 on “The Participation of Women in the Life and Leadership of the Church⁠”

Please consider supporting Jesuitical by becoming a digital subscriber to America magazine at ⁠americamagazine.org/subscribe⁠

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This week on “Inside the Vatican,” Colleen Dulle is joined by guest host Ashley McKinless for an interview with Gerard O’Connell and his wife and journalist Elisabetta Piqué about their new book, “The Election of Pope Leo XIV: The Last Surprise of Pope Francis.” They discuss pre-conclave maneuvering, including organized resistance to Pope Francis's reforms, as well as their decision to report conclave details despite Cardinals taking oaths of secrecy.

- 0:00 Breaking the secrecy of a conclave

- 8:10 A Vatican journalist and a war correspondent

- 12:04 Calculating the conclave vote tallies

- 15:09 Pressure campaigns and conclave maneuvering

- 22:17 How the cardinals choose a pope

- 30:10 What the cardinals think of Pope Leo so far

- 35:50 A touching personal story

Links:

The Election of Pope Leo XIV: The Last Surprise of Pope Francis by Gerard O'Connell and Elisabetta Pique

Excerpt: Behind the scenes of Pope Leo XIV’s election

Backer of Cardinal Parolin attacks Pope Francis’ push for lay involvement in church governance

Los puntos débiles de Parolin, el favorito a ser el próximo papa, y el secreto a voces de su relación con Francisco

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