Pope Leo XIV on Monday launched an impassioned call for regulation of Artificial Intelligence, warning that “opaque algorithms,” controlled by a handful of powerful private companies, can bring “new forms of dehumanisation,”

On an eagerly awaited new encyclical called (Magnificent Humanity) – an encyclical is an ancient form of Vatican communication – Pope Leo also warned that it is crucial that AI must not remain in the hands “of a few,” underlining that AI technology was recently used during the U.S.-Israel War on Iran.

The pontiff also said it was crucial that the technological revolution underway must not be driven by “the idolatry of profit.”

While pontiffs do not usually physically attend the presentation of their encyclicals, Pope Leo – in what is considered an unusual move – presented “Magnifica Humanitas” himself at the Vatican alongside Christopher Olah, the founder of major A.I. developer Anthropic, as well as a host of Catholic prelates and theologians.

Anthropic during the past year, has held several events targeting religious communities and invited Christian leaders to its headquarters to discuss spiritual-related matters and the development of its AI systems.

In February, Anthropic’s CEO, Dario Amodei clashed with U.S. President Donald Trump and the U.S. Department of Defense when he refused to comply with Pentagon demands to grant the U.S. military unrestricted use of its AI assistant, Claude.

“Humanity, created by God in all its grandeur, is today facing a pivotal choice: either to construct a new Tower of Babel or to build the city in which God and humanity dwell together,” Pope Leo said, in the opening words of the encyclical.

“Magnifica humanitas,” which is divided into five chapters, “has an underlying premise: technology is not “a force antagonistic to humanity, nor is it “inherently evil,” according to the Holy See’s official news outlet, Vatican News. However, “technology is never neutral, because it takes on the characteristics of those who devise, finance, regulate, and use it.”