Magnifica Humanitas with Archbishop Hebda

[00:00:00]With the same passion that some folks would wait for World Cup tickets or for the release of a Taylor Swift album, I've been waiting all year for Pope Leo's Magnificat Humanitatis to drop.

[00:00:10]Like the rest of the world, I was excited in the days right after his election by his explanation of his choice of the name Leo and by his early references to the weight and urgency of the social questions that are facing today's society. Challenges that are indeed as momentous as the revolutionary situation that his namesake, Leo the 13th, faced. Magnificat Humanitatis was worth waiting for. It indeed responds to a genuine pastoral need that my brothers and I in ministry are seeing increasingly every day in our flocks, especially among some of the youngest members, who are all too often losing sight of their self-worth and the magnificence of the human person and who find themselves traveling along paths that lead to isolation, anxiety, and desperation rather than to the fulfillment that comes from openness and communion. While the encyclical is getting lots of press for what it says about AI, I'm most excited about what it says about the human person.

[00:01:07]Drawing not only on sacred scripture, but also on the church's rich social teaching, we're not, Pope Leo reminds us, projects to be optimized, but men and women lovingly created in the image and likeness of God. He reminds us that the Holy Spirit has inscribed dignity in each of us in a way that will forever distinguish us from even the most perfect of machines. No computational system, however sophisticated, he writes, can create a heart that gives itself or a conscience that discerns good from evil. I love how Pope Leo teaches in this encyclical that the very things that society often sees as human limitations to be corrected, and here he mentions incapacity, illness, old age, suffering, and vulnerability, are actually the pathways to human flourishing. I think that's a message of hope that will resonate in the hearts of so many folks who are desperately searching to understand the challenges we face in our lives or to find meaning.

[00:02:08]My favorite line in the whole encyclical is where Pope Leo insists that we must lovingly safeguard the grandeur of humanity bestowed upon us and revealed in its fullness in Christ. The splendor of which no machine can ever replace.

[00:02:22]Sure, the document highlights the role of the human person, but always in the light of Christ. By no means is the encyclical a call to reject AI or technological advances.

[00:02:33]I see it rather as a plea to the world to make sure that the development and use of technology is always ordered toward the dignity of the human person and the common good. Pope Leo has proven himself to be a great teacher and a humble one as well. I admire how he lays the foundation for ongoing dialogue with scientists, engineers, techies, and politicians.

[00:02:55]I read the encyclical as a starting point rather than a last word, and I think that will resonate with the members of my flock as we together grapple with the questions about technology that Pope Leo raises. I'm grateful that all the media attention has already generated an awareness of the document and a curiosity about what Pope Leo has said. Given the richness and length of the encyclical, however, I recognize that we're going to have to find ways in my archdiocese to encourage folks to take the time to give the text the careful reading that it deserves.

[00:03:27]I'm finding that I find something new each time I come back to the encyclical.

[00:03:32]I'm confident that it's going to generate lots of discussion, especially among our youngest members, and for that I'm greatly indebted to Pope Leo.