{"id":74,"date":"2026-05-27T12:44:43","date_gmt":"2026-05-27T12:44:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/commercialrelocationpros.com\/?p=74"},"modified":"2026-05-27T12:44:43","modified_gmt":"2026-05-27T12:44:43","slug":"the-pope-is-now-the-worlds-most-famous-humanist","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/commercialrelocationpros.com\/?p=74","title":{"rendered":"The Pope Is Now the World\u2019s Most Famous Humanist"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

Does the pope have an editor? If I could presume to take on this role for a second, then I might have one little note for Leo XIV after reading his new encyclical about artificial intelligence: Great stuff, but lose the Tower of Babel. It\u2019s a tired clich\u00e9. Most of us have already been told that those who would seek to be like God will see their ambitions crash to the ground. And in this instance, the lesson has a limited audience. Sam Altman, Elon Musk, and the rest of the tower builders should have an image of the tower tattooed on their chest. But the rest of us, who mostly suffer the fallout from those godlike men and their aspirations, are just trying to get through our days.<\/p>\n

Read more A Mystery About Diabetes in Pregnancy<\/a><\/p>\n

Fortunately, Leo\u2019s encyclical, Magnifica Humanitas<\/i> (or \u201cMagnificent Humanity\u201d), is much more than a slap at Silicon Valley. The pope does two very useful things in his screed: He identifies the threat of AI as a form of dehumanization, and then he asserts, with passion and clear eyes, what is actually worth saving about being human. This second part of the argument is often left vague\u2014or left out\u2014when people talk about the threat of AI. Many people feel uncomfortable with a technology that seems to be squeezing some essential-feeling elements, like thinking, out of our lives, but then don\u2019t spend a lot of time trying to articulate what is being lost.<\/p>\n

The ideology of Silicon Valley is one of inevitability: History is moving, with Hegelian determinism, in one direction\u2014toward superintelligent machines\u2014and anyone who questions or worries about what this means is made to feel like they are waving their hands in the path of a freight train. I\u2019ve had so many conversations with proselytizers that end with, Well, it\u2019s coming, so you better get used to it<\/i>.What Leo does is push back against the inevitability.<\/p>\n

He chose to release his encyclical on the anniversary of a previous Pope Leo\u2019s treatise, in 1891, which looked at the ways industrialization was flattening human beings. The current pope clearly wants to draw connections among various forms of dehumanization, based on more than a century\u2019s worth of new evidence, AI being only the latest assailant. These analogies, comparing the crushing weight of factory work or the inhumanity of totalitarianism to Silicon Valley\u2019s handwork, might seem disheartening (and even a little overwrought to some). But Leo\u2019s point is that people have always found ways to resist. They have advocated for laws to protect workers, demanded human- and civil-rights laws, chosen not to surrender. He is arguing against passivity. \u201cMost people are watching and waiting, observing from afar and merely hoping for the best,\u201d the pope writes. But the stakes as he\u2019s describing them demand much more. He lists questions that \u201ccan no longer be avoided: Where are we going? Toward what goal do we wish to orient ourselves? What direction should we choose as a people and as a human community?\u201d<\/p>\n

First, he suggests, we need to appreciate what it means to be human, to know what we\u2019re defending. I wondered if the pope would offer anything more than the simple Christian response that God\u2019s presence resides in all of us. This would seem to make the case a fairly straightforward one. If we are each reflections of an ultimate divine entity, then it seems obvious why we should care to preserve what is small and fallible and slow about us. In spite of those weaknesses, God is in us, and therefore we should not mess with something that has that spark. We should protect our fallibility because it is part of an infallible order.<\/p>\n

This is an element of Leo\u2019s argument, of course\u2014he is, after all, head of the Catholic Church\u2014but he also makes clear that humanity, as he describes it, should be exalted because of its \u201cwoundedness\u201d just as much as its \u201cgrandeur.\u201d Our limitations are the key to understanding what makes humans special. \u201cWe must remember that humanity flourishes not despite<\/i> limitations, but often through<\/i> them,\u201d he writes. You don\u2019t even need to believe in God to appreciate that our uniqueness derives from the friction produced by our \u201cvulnerability, suffering and failure.\u201d To smooth out this roughness would be to get rid of what is most essential about us. Along those lines, this is maybe my favorite passage from the encyclical:<\/p>\n

Read more The Gas-Tax Reckoning<\/a><\/p>\n

\n
\n

To eliminate suffering entirely would mean, in the end, extinguishing love and desire as well. Those who love and desire cannot avoid passing through trial and suffering; and over the years, we carry within us lessons that leave their mark like scars, the memories of a journey shaped by freedom and failure, dreams and disappointments. It is only thanks to the interplay of these elements that the wonders of the soul occur within us, allowing us to sense the richness of our humanity. To renounce this adventure, both tragic and splendid, in the name of a presumed transcendence of all limits, could mean many things, but it would no longer be human.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n

I am not a Christian, and really not much of a believer at all, but this articulates so well what I feel AI is taking from us. What makes a human life valuable is struggle. The things we achieve, the love, the give-and-take of families and communities\u2014all of it involves effort. What AI is offering to do is remove struggle and effort. You could argue, and many do, that it will help improve our quality of life in many realms\u2014if it finds new lifesaving drugs more quickly, for example. But the pope\u2019s point is that no more than a small handful of people have control over how and where to apply AI. And they are letting the value of efficiency trump everything else. Dehumanization is what follows. And the only way to resist it is by exalting in our limitations, in our struggles, as a good thing.<\/p>\n

I will always prefer reading a novel written by a human precisely because I know the limitations placed on a human brain. The opportunity to commune with such a brain, one that has pushed against those boundaries to create Middlemarch<\/i>, is a thousand times more fulfilling than reading what a purportedly boundless machine has produced. The same could be said for any number of other areas of life\u2014dating, traveling, working\u2014in which the friction is what produces meaning. \u201cFor an algorithm, an error is a flaw to be corrected,\u201d Leo writes; \u201cfor a person, however, an error can be a catalyst for profound change.\u201d<\/p>\n

Does it take a pope to say this? Of course not. But it matters that he did. People think of him as a moral counterweight to the political leaders who are full of promises yet short on guidance. What I took from Leo\u2019s words though had nothing to do with good and evil or the state of my soul or Christ\u2019s example. I thought about the pursuit of beauty, which is the closest I have to a faith. What I value most about being human is the infinite ways we have to make meaning for ourselves. This might be the culture we create or the cities we build or the stories we tell our children at night. All of it results from confronting our human condition with what we have at hand. If that goes away, if instead the machines, which have never had to put any effort into anything, are the ones developing our world, what will happen to beauty? (The pope, notably, couldn\u2019t resist naming some earthly art that was meaningful to him: \u201cBeethoven\u2019s Ninth Symphony can be seen as a desire for unity; Guernica<\/i> as a denunciation of dehumanization; Schindler\u2019s List<\/i> as a call not to consign the past to oblivion.\u201d)<\/p>\n

In addition to the Tower of Babel, Leo cites another biblical touchstone in his encyclical. As his editor, I would keep this one. It\u2019s from the Book of Nehemiah. In it, the prophet decides to rebuild the walls of Jerusalem, which was destroyed by the Babylonians. The pope calls out the fact that the rebuilding was a group effort, a human effort. I read the episode, and it\u2019s essentially an exhaustive list of the artisans and famous local families and priests who all lend a hand. There is no magic, no divine involvement, really\u2014just lots of people sweating together and moving stones. How satisfying it must have been to complete the task, to know they did it themselves. \u201cSo we built the wall,\u201d Nehemiah writes. \u201cFor the people had a mind to work.\u201d<\/p>\n

Read more Seven Books to Read Before You Turn 22<\/a><\/p>\n<\/section>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Leo XIV\u2019s encyclical about artificial intelligence makes a strong argument in favor of human fallibility.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":73,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-74","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-culture"],"yoast_head":"\nThe Pope Is Now the World\u2019s Most Famous Humanist - 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=74\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"The Pope Is Now the World\u2019s Most Famous Humanist - Commercial Relocation Pros\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Leo XIV\u2019s encyclical about artificial intelligence makes a strong argument in favor of human fallibility.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/commercialrelocationpros.com\/?p=74\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Commercial Relocation Pros\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-05-27T12:44:43+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=\"7 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/commercialrelocationpros.com\\\/?p=74#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/commercialrelocationpros.com\\\/?p=74\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"admin\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/commercialrelocationpros.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/3a3374a445f1b5d4852b1d7c15b9fe3a\"},\"headline\":\"The Pope Is Now the World\u2019s Most Famous Humanist\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-05-27T12:44:43+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/commercialrelocationpros.com\\\/?p=74\"},\"wordCount\":1491,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/commercialrelocationpros.com\\\/?p=74#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/commercialrelocationpros.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/05\\\/e843339fcc39be2451d02ef4626bf6bf.avif\",\"articleSection\":[\"Culture\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/commercialrelocationpros.com\\\/?p=74#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/commercialrelocationpros.com\\\/?p=74\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/commercialrelocationpros.com\\\/?p=74\",\"name\":\"The Pope Is Now the World\u2019s Most Famous Humanist - Commercial Relocation Pros\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/commercialrelocationpros.com\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/commercialrelocationpros.com\\\/?p=74#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/commercialrelocationpros.com\\\/?p=74#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/commercialrelocationpros.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/05\\\/e843339fcc39be2451d02ef4626bf6bf.avif\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-05-27T12:44:43+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/commercialrelocationpros.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/3a3374a445f1b5d4852b1d7c15b9fe3a\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/commercialrelocationpros.com\\\/?p=74#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/commercialrelocationpros.com\\\/?p=74\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/commercialrelocationpros.com\\\/?p=74#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/commercialrelocationpros.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/05\\\/e843339fcc39be2451d02ef4626bf6bf.avif\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/commercialrelocationpros.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/05\\\/e843339fcc39be2451d02ef4626bf6bf.avif\",\"width\":1200,\"height\":625},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/commercialrelocationpros.com\\\/?p=74#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/commercialrelocationpros.com\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"The Pope Is Now the World\u2019s Most Famous Humanist\"}]},{\"@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 Is Now the World\u2019s Most Famous Humanist - 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=74","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"The Pope Is Now the World\u2019s Most Famous Humanist - Commercial Relocation Pros","og_description":"Leo XIV\u2019s encyclical about artificial intelligence makes a strong argument in favor of human fallibility.","og_url":"https:\/\/commercialrelocationpros.com\/?p=74","og_site_name":"Commercial Relocation Pros","article_published_time":"2026-05-27T12:44:43+00:00","author":"admin","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"admin","Est. reading time":"7 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/commercialrelocationpros.com\/?p=74#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/commercialrelocationpros.com\/?p=74"},"author":{"name":"admin","@id":"https:\/\/commercialrelocationpros.com\/#\/schema\/person\/3a3374a445f1b5d4852b1d7c15b9fe3a"},"headline":"The Pope Is Now the World\u2019s Most Famous Humanist","datePublished":"2026-05-27T12:44:43+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/commercialrelocationpros.com\/?p=74"},"wordCount":1491,"commentCount":0,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/commercialrelocationpros.com\/?p=74#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/commercialrelocationpros.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/e843339fcc39be2451d02ef4626bf6bf.avif","articleSection":["Culture"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/commercialrelocationpros.com\/?p=74#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/commercialrelocationpros.com\/?p=74","url":"https:\/\/commercialrelocationpros.com\/?p=74","name":"The Pope Is Now the World\u2019s Most Famous Humanist - Commercial Relocation Pros","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/commercialrelocationpros.com\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/commercialrelocationpros.com\/?p=74#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/commercialrelocationpros.com\/?p=74#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/commercialrelocationpros.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/e843339fcc39be2451d02ef4626bf6bf.avif","datePublished":"2026-05-27T12:44:43+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/commercialrelocationpros.com\/#\/schema\/person\/3a3374a445f1b5d4852b1d7c15b9fe3a"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/commercialrelocationpros.com\/?p=74#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/commercialrelocationpros.com\/?p=74"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/commercialrelocationpros.com\/?p=74#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/commercialrelocationpros.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/e843339fcc39be2451d02ef4626bf6bf.avif","contentUrl":"https:\/\/commercialrelocationpros.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/e843339fcc39be2451d02ef4626bf6bf.avif","width":1200,"height":625},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/commercialrelocationpros.com\/?p=74#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/commercialrelocationpros.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"The Pope Is Now the World\u2019s Most Famous Humanist"}]},{"@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\/74","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=74"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/commercialrelocationpros.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/74\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/commercialrelocationpros.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/73"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/commercialrelocationpros.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=74"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/commercialrelocationpros.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=74"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/commercialrelocationpros.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=74"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}