{"id":181,"date":"2026-05-30T12:45:46","date_gmt":"2026-05-30T12:45:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/commercialrelocationpros.com\/?p=181"},"modified":"2026-05-30T12:45:46","modified_gmt":"2026-05-30T12:45:46","slug":"the-popes-admirers-are-missing-something","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/commercialrelocationpros.com\/?p=181","title":{"rendered":"The Pope\u2019s Admirers Are Missing Something"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

Magnifica Humanitas<\/i>, Pope Leo XIV\u2019s new encyclical \u201con safeguarding the human person in the time of artificial intelligence,\u201d has received widespread praise. This isn\u2019t surprising. A popular and learned world leader with a significant degree of moral authority is pointing out the dangers of a deeply unpopular technology created by deeply unpopular people.<\/p>\n

Read more A Crisis of Agency<\/a><\/p>\n

The laudatory coverage of the encyclical is justified, but it has obscured perhaps Leo\u2019s most important insight. Magnifica Humanitas<\/i> (\u201cMagnificent Humanity\u201d) is not only\u2014or even mostly\u2014about AI itself. And the pope is challenging much more than Big Tech.<\/p>\n

To be sure, Leo devotes considerable space to addressing the technology and its purveyors. In one of the document\u2019s most-quoted passages, he declares that AI \u201cmust be disarmed\u201d and prevented \u201cfrom dominating humanity.\u201d Elsewhere, he argues for the need \u201cto establish adequate regulatory tools capable of upholding justice and curbing the distorting effects of technological power\u201d on human relationships, working conditions, public discourse, international affairs, and much else. Given AI\u2019s \u201cenergy-intensive infrastructure,\u201d the pope warns, \u201cit is essential to develop more sustainable technological solutions that reduce environmental impact and help protect our common home.\u201d He also points to the impunity bestowed on AI developers by the extraordinary resources they have at their disposal.<\/p>\n

But Leo doesn\u2019t stop there. \u201cTechnology promises emancipation\u201d for the stable and secure, he writes, which in turn \u201cproduces new forms of global subordination\u201d for those in precarious situations. No doubt, many encyclical readers fall, like me, into the first group. He\u2019s implicating us, too.<\/p>\n

\u201cNothing in the world of AI is immaterial or magical,\u201d Leo challenges us to keep in mind. \u201cEvery seemingly immediate and flawless response is the result of a long chain of mediation, involving vast networks of natural resources, energy infrastructure and, above all, people.\u201d These include people \u201cworking under demanding conditions for minimal wages,\u201d Leo writes. \u201cIn some regions of the world, children and adolescents work in dangerous conditions, crushing the materials from which rare earth elements are extracted. The bodies of these people are scarred, injured and worn down so that computational flow may continue uninterruptedly.\u201d<\/p>\n

Leo rightly calls this a form of slavery\u2014and the ones who benefit from it include much of his audience. We are the ones who demand and expect endless, frictionless data so that we can be more efficient and adept at work and school, more entertained and eased at home, more liberated from the slow, hard effort of reading and understanding. And instead of reckoning with our own complicity, we blame AI and Big Tech. Now, thanks to Magnifica Humanitas<\/i>, we can selectively quote an authority no less than the pope to heighten that blame even more.<\/p>\n

Read more The Kennedy Center Enters the Unknown<\/a><\/p>\n

AI hasn\u2019t created this situation. Rather, it has dramatically accelerated a preexisting one in which human affairs were already governed by paradigms that place the ultimate good in technology, economics, and unconstrained individualism. \u201cWe live at a time of significant spiritual and cultural blindness,\u201d Leo writes, thanks in part to \u201ca disconcerting loss of historical memory.\u201d Warmongers prolong conflict \u201cas a source of power and income,\u201d while \u201cglobalization has provoked fundamentalist, identity-based and nationalistic reactions.\u201d<\/p>\n

Humanity, not technology, is responsible for this polycrisis. Accordingly, Leo says that we\u2019re responsible for remedying it. This will require building \u201ca civilization of love\u201d based on \u201cthe sum total of small and steadfast acts of fidelity that serve as a bulwark against dehumanization,\u201d the pope writes. He grounds this account in biblical precedents, invoking the humble, gradual, communal rebuilding of Jerusalem recounted in the Book of Nehemiah, contrasting it with the story of the proud, striving, failed effort to build the Tower of Babel. Throughout the encyclical, and especially near its conclusion, he also invokes Christianity\u2019s core proposition, which accounts for the title of the encyclical.<\/p>\n

Humanity is magnificent, Leo says, because God made us in his own likeness; because a first-century Jewish teenage girl from Nazareth gave birth to the son of God; because this indwelling of the eternal divine in mortal human form endows humanity itself with the highest possible meaning, purpose, and value.<\/p>\n

To nonbelievers, the Jesus-and-Mary stuff may be unconvincing, even a little ridiculous. But Leo proposes that the incarnation is the firmest possible ground for the conviction that \u201cno computational system, however sophisticated, can create a heart that gives itself, or a conscience that discerns good from evil.\u201d<\/p>\n

Leo has offered an answer to the signal question of the digital age. This question isn\u2019t what to do about AI\u2014that\u2019s secondary. The question is: What does it mean, what does it take, to be human?<\/i> You don\u2019t need to agree with the pope about why<\/i> humanity is more magnificent than AI, but his encyclical reveals what\u2019s happening now that fewer and fewer people believe that it is.<\/p>\n

Read more The War Trump Can\u2019t End<\/a><\/p>\n<\/section>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Leo\u2019s new encyclical challenges much more than Big Tech.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":180,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-181","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-ideas"],"yoast_head":"\nThe Pope\u2019s Admirers Are Missing Something - Commercial Relocation Pros<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/commercialrelocationpros.com\/?p=181\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"The Pope\u2019s Admirers Are Missing Something - Commercial Relocation Pros\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Leo\u2019s new encyclical challenges much more than Big Tech.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/commercialrelocationpros.com\/?p=181\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Commercial Relocation Pros\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-05-30T12:45:46+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/commercialrelocationpros.com\\\/?p=181#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/commercialrelocationpros.com\\\/?p=181\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"admin\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/commercialrelocationpros.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/3a3374a445f1b5d4852b1d7c15b9fe3a\"},\"headline\":\"The Pope\u2019s Admirers Are Missing Something\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-05-30T12:45:46+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/commercialrelocationpros.com\\\/?p=181\"},\"wordCount\":836,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/commercialrelocationpros.com\\\/?p=181#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/commercialrelocationpros.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/05\\\/996e8b8802edb51d1a0ad782c867f42d.avif\",\"articleSection\":[\"Ideas\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/commercialrelocationpros.com\\\/?p=181#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/commercialrelocationpros.com\\\/?p=181\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/commercialrelocationpros.com\\\/?p=181\",\"name\":\"The Pope\u2019s Admirers Are Missing Something - Commercial Relocation Pros\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/commercialrelocationpros.com\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/commercialrelocationpros.com\\\/?p=181#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/commercialrelocationpros.com\\\/?p=181#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/commercialrelocationpros.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/05\\\/996e8b8802edb51d1a0ad782c867f42d.avif\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-05-30T12:45:46+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/commercialrelocationpros.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/3a3374a445f1b5d4852b1d7c15b9fe3a\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/commercialrelocationpros.com\\\/?p=181#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/commercialrelocationpros.com\\\/?p=181\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/commercialrelocationpros.com\\\/?p=181#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/commercialrelocationpros.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/05\\\/996e8b8802edb51d1a0ad782c867f42d.avif\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/commercialrelocationpros.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/05\\\/996e8b8802edb51d1a0ad782c867f42d.avif\",\"width\":1200,\"height\":625},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/commercialrelocationpros.com\\\/?p=181#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/commercialrelocationpros.com\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"The Pope\u2019s Admirers Are Missing Something\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/commercialrelocationpros.com\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/commercialrelocationpros.com\\\/\",\"name\":\"Commercial Relocation Pros\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/commercialrelocationpros.com\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/commercialrelocationpros.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/3a3374a445f1b5d4852b1d7c15b9fe3a\",\"name\":\"admin\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"admin\"},\"sameAs\":[\"http:\\\/\\\/commercialrelocationpros.com\"],\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/commercialrelocationpros.com\\\/?author=1\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"The Pope\u2019s Admirers Are Missing Something - Commercial Relocation Pros","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/commercialrelocationpros.com\/?p=181","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"The Pope\u2019s Admirers Are Missing Something - Commercial Relocation Pros","og_description":"Leo\u2019s new encyclical challenges much more than Big Tech.","og_url":"https:\/\/commercialrelocationpros.com\/?p=181","og_site_name":"Commercial Relocation Pros","article_published_time":"2026-05-30T12:45:46+00:00","author":"admin","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"admin","Est. reading time":"4 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/commercialrelocationpros.com\/?p=181#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/commercialrelocationpros.com\/?p=181"},"author":{"name":"admin","@id":"https:\/\/commercialrelocationpros.com\/#\/schema\/person\/3a3374a445f1b5d4852b1d7c15b9fe3a"},"headline":"The Pope\u2019s Admirers Are Missing Something","datePublished":"2026-05-30T12:45:46+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/commercialrelocationpros.com\/?p=181"},"wordCount":836,"commentCount":0,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/commercialrelocationpros.com\/?p=181#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/commercialrelocationpros.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/996e8b8802edb51d1a0ad782c867f42d.avif","articleSection":["Ideas"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/commercialrelocationpros.com\/?p=181#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/commercialrelocationpros.com\/?p=181","url":"https:\/\/commercialrelocationpros.com\/?p=181","name":"The Pope\u2019s Admirers Are Missing Something - Commercial Relocation Pros","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/commercialrelocationpros.com\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/commercialrelocationpros.com\/?p=181#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/commercialrelocationpros.com\/?p=181#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/commercialrelocationpros.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/996e8b8802edb51d1a0ad782c867f42d.avif","datePublished":"2026-05-30T12:45:46+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/commercialrelocationpros.com\/#\/schema\/person\/3a3374a445f1b5d4852b1d7c15b9fe3a"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/commercialrelocationpros.com\/?p=181#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/commercialrelocationpros.com\/?p=181"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/commercialrelocationpros.com\/?p=181#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/commercialrelocationpros.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/996e8b8802edb51d1a0ad782c867f42d.avif","contentUrl":"https:\/\/commercialrelocationpros.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/996e8b8802edb51d1a0ad782c867f42d.avif","width":1200,"height":625},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/commercialrelocationpros.com\/?p=181#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/commercialrelocationpros.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"The Pope\u2019s Admirers Are Missing Something"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/commercialrelocationpros.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/commercialrelocationpros.com\/","name":"Commercial Relocation Pros","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/commercialrelocationpros.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/commercialrelocationpros.com\/#\/schema\/person\/3a3374a445f1b5d4852b1d7c15b9fe3a","name":"admin","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"admin"},"sameAs":["http:\/\/commercialrelocationpros.com"],"url":"https:\/\/commercialrelocationpros.com\/?author=1"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/commercialrelocationpros.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/181","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/commercialrelocationpros.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/commercialrelocationpros.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/commercialrelocationpros.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/commercialrelocationpros.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=181"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/commercialrelocationpros.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/181\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/commercialrelocationpros.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/180"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/commercialrelocationpros.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=181"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/commercialrelocationpros.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=181"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/commercialrelocationpros.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=181"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}