As the world continues to grapple with the rapid growth of artificial intelligence and digital technologies, Pope Leo XIV’s Magnifica Humanitas offers a timely invitation to reflect on what it means to remain deeply human. Building on the vision of integral ecology and human dignity, the encyclical challenges us to examine how technology shapes our relationships, our communities, our attention, and our common future. Members of the Laudato Si’ Movement and Laudato Si’ Action Platform team have been praying with these themes and discerning their implications for communications, ecological conversion, community building, and mission. Their reflections offer personal insights and questions that may accompany your own reading of the encyclical.
“Reading Magnifica Humanitas, I found myself reflecting on the Laudato Si’ Action Platform itself as a technological tool. The encyclical challenged me to return to key questions: how do we build digital spaces that are truly at the service of integral human development? How do we approach accessibility, participant feedback, and the use of data in ways rooted in dignity, inclusion, and care — especially for communities with limited online access? Pope Leo XIV’s call to examine “the supply chains of digital production” and the systems behind technology feels especially relevant for all of us helping shape the Platform journey.”
– Steven Fisher, Communications Manager, Laudato Si’ Action Platform
“Reading Magnifica Humanitas, I found myself reflecting deeply on today’s communications paradigm and the responsibility communicators carry in the digital age. The encyclical challenged me to think beyond the speed and volume of information, and instead ask how communication can remain rooted in truth, discernment, and authentic human connection. I feel a special calling to help ensure that this encyclical reaches everyone, especially at a time when society risks placing technology before humanity. Pope Leo XIV’s reflections reminded me of the importance of remaining human first — of protecting our capacity to reflect, to listen, to discern, and to communicate with dignity and compassion in a world increasingly shaped by artificial intelligence and constant digital consumption.”
– Susana Salguero, Communications Director
“Magnifica Humanitas has invited me to reflect on the implications of ecological conversion in the digital world, reminding me that the call is to dismantle the technocratic paradigm in all its forms. Today, ecological conversion includes cultivating digital sobriety to reclaim our time and attention for what makes us most human: “the capacity for relationship and love” (no. 126). Nothing can replace the beauty of physical presence and tangible relationship with God’s creation. It is not about rejecting technology, but rather evaluating its use by asking ourselves: Does it help us “to become more humane and fraternal, while respecting our common home and future generations?” (no. 85).
– Daniel Castellanos, Eco-conversion Programs Manager
“Technology and AI are reshaping the way young people relate to one another, to God and to Creation. We are immersed in an environment that divides us, and convinces us that absolute truth lives on a screen – one that pushes us towards recognition through competition, productivity and consumption. This same logic that exploits our attention exploits our planet, leaving us also disconnected from Creation – so many of us never sat in silence in a forest. Pope Leo’s call in Magnifica Humanitas is toward a new way of living that builds a “civilization of love” rooted in charity, justice, dialogue, and meaningful relationships. A civilization that is conscious of our call to contemplate and care for all Creation, and that embraces the dignity we share as sons and daughters of God.”
– Demian Escudero, Programs Assistant
Nothing can compete with reading the text in full, but some pieces I’m particularly praying with are the call to: disarm AI, technology, our language, and our drive towards competition; sit with vital questions of what makes us human (spoiler: it’s not how efficient we can be!); prioritize community, common good, solidarity, and subsidiarity; and break our technological addictions in order to deepen our relationships with God, each other, and all creation. We know that living out Catholic teaching is following the Gospel, and yet sometimes, the scale of the environmental and human destruction and disrespect can feel so large that it feels impossible to change. As we read Pope Leo XIV’s words, how can we discern what future we are creating with our lives and our actions, and choose to truly believe that, “each in our own way, can [and must] cooperate in building the civilization of love” (213)?
– Anna Johnson, North America Director, Movement Development
The reflections shared here reveal a common thread: technology is not neutral, and the choices we make today are shaping the kind of world we will leave to future generations. Magnifica Humanitas invites us to move beyond efficiency, productivity, and digital consumption toward a renewed commitment to human dignity, authentic relationships, solidarity, and care for our common home. As you read the encyclical, consider what practices, habits, and decisions can help foster a civilization of love in your own context. How is God calling you to use technology in ways that deepen communion rather than division, nurture hope rather than distraction, and strengthen our shared responsibility for one another and for Creation? Give your reflections in our comments.