Pope Leo and Anthropic co-founder join hands on church-tech partnership at Magnifica Humanitas release
Pope Leo XIV launched the Vatican's AI encyclical alongside Anthropic co-founder Christopher Olah. The appearance signalled a rare alliance as both sides called for stronger moral scrutiny of artificial intelligence.
For years, the Vatican has been one of the loudest moral voices warning the world about artificial intelligence. Church leaders repeatedly raised concerns about AI threatening human dignity, concentrating power in the hands of a few companies, and even harming the environment. Just days earlier, the Vatican had launched its own study group to examine the risks of the technology.
That is why what happened on May 25 surprised many people.
An unlikely pairing at the Vatican
When Pope Leo XIV stepped into a packed Vatican auditorium to personally present Magnifica Humanitas, an encyclical focused on protecting humanity in the age of artificial intelligence, he was not alone. Sitting beside cardinals and theologians was an unexpected guest: Christopher Olah, the 33-year-old atheist co-founder of Anthropic.
It created an image few would have predicted — the Catholic Church and a Silicon Valley AI company appearing side by side, not to fight each other, but to work together.
The message behind Magnifica Humanitas
The encyclical itself carried a serious message. Titled Magnifica Humanitas (“Magnificent Humanity”), the document warned about the many crises facing society that are being intensified by rapid and unchecked technological development. It criticised the growing concentration of digital power and argued that governments must regulate AI companies more aggressively.
But perhaps the bigger story was the partnership being signaled on stage.
Why Anthropic wants outside critics
Olah openly admitted that the people building AI cannot solve its problems alone. He said tech leaders need conversations with people who are outside the powerful financial and competitive pressures driving the industry.
Some estimates value Anthropic at nearly $900 billion, showing just how massive the business stakes around AI have become. Olah acknowledged these pressures directly — commercial competition, geopolitical rivalries, ambition, and the race to stay ahead in research.
That, he argued, is exactly why outside moral voices are necessary.
“We need informed critics who will tell the labs when we are failing,” Olah said. “We need moral voices that the incentives cannot bend.”
It was a remarkable moment: an AI executive effectively asking the Church to challenge the tech industry.
A shared concern about AI’s future
Olah also pointed out another growing concern — that AI development is concentrated in a small number of wealthy nations and companies. He argued that the benefits of AI must be shared globally and said this is the kind of issue the Church has historically refused to let the world ignore.
The Vatican, meanwhile, seemed equally aware that simply criticising technology from the sidelines is no longer enough.
By appearing alongside Olah, Pope Leo XIV signaled that the Church wants a seat at the table where AI’s future is being shaped. The pope said he accepted the invitation “to walk together, to listen and to speak and together to find the way for humanity, in this time of artificial intelligence.”
Without directly mentioning their ideological differences, the pope called their public dialogue “a great sign of hope.”
“What a great sign of hope that, with our differences, we can listen to one another,” he said.
Questions still remain
The pairing still raises questions. Anthropic did not sign an earlier Vatican-backed pledge promoting ethical AI, and it remains unclear why the company was chosen for such a prominent role during the encyclical’s launch.
Yet connections between the two sides already existed. Anthropic has previously consulted Catholic thinkers while developing the “Claude Constitution,” the ethical framework guiding its AI models. Among those contributors was Bishop Paul Tighe from the Vatican’s Dicastery for Culture and Education.
For years, the Vatican has been one of the loudest moral voices warning the world about artificial intelligence. Church leaders repeatedly raised concerns about AI threatening human dignity, concentrating power in the hands of a few companies, and even harming the environment. Just days earlier, the Vatican had launched its own study group to examine the risks of the technology.
That is why what happened on May 25 surprised many people.
An unlikely pairing at the Vatican
When Pope Leo XIV stepped into a packed Vatican auditorium to personally present Magnifica Humanitas, an encyclical focused on protecting humanity in the age of artificial intelligence, he was not alone. Sitting beside cardinals and theologians was an unexpected guest: Christopher Olah, the 33-year-old atheist co-founder of Anthropic.
It created an image few would have predicted — the Catholic Church and a Silicon Valley AI company appearing side by side, not to fight each other, but to work together.
The message behind Magnifica Humanitas
The encyclical itself carried a serious message. Titled Magnifica Humanitas (“Magnificent Humanity”), the document warned about the many crises facing society that are being intensified by rapid and unchecked technological development. It criticised the growing concentration of digital power and argued that governments must regulate AI companies more aggressively.
But perhaps the bigger story was the partnership being signaled on stage.
Why Anthropic wants outside critics
Olah openly admitted that the people building AI cannot solve its problems alone. He said tech leaders need conversations with people who are outside the powerful financial and competitive pressures driving the industry.
Some estimates value Anthropic at nearly $900 billion, showing just how massive the business stakes around AI have become. Olah acknowledged these pressures directly — commercial competition, geopolitical rivalries, ambition, and the race to stay ahead in research.
That, he argued, is exactly why outside moral voices are necessary.
“We need informed critics who will tell the labs when we are failing,” Olah said. “We need moral voices that the incentives cannot bend.”
It was a remarkable moment: an AI executive effectively asking the Church to challenge the tech industry.
A shared concern about AI’s future
Olah also pointed out another growing concern — that AI development is concentrated in a small number of wealthy nations and companies. He argued that the benefits of AI must be shared globally and said this is the kind of issue the Church has historically refused to let the world ignore.
The Vatican, meanwhile, seemed equally aware that simply criticising technology from the sidelines is no longer enough.
By appearing alongside Olah, Pope Leo XIV signaled that the Church wants a seat at the table where AI’s future is being shaped. The pope said he accepted the invitation “to walk together, to listen and to speak and together to find the way for humanity, in this time of artificial intelligence.”
Without directly mentioning their ideological differences, the pope called their public dialogue “a great sign of hope.”
“What a great sign of hope that, with our differences, we can listen to one another,” he said.
Questions still remain
The pairing still raises questions. Anthropic did not sign an earlier Vatican-backed pledge promoting ethical AI, and it remains unclear why the company was chosen for such a prominent role during the encyclical’s launch.
Yet connections between the two sides already existed. Anthropic has previously consulted Catholic thinkers while developing the “Claude Constitution,” the ethical framework guiding its AI models. Among those contributors was Bishop Paul Tighe from the Vatican’s Dicastery for Culture and Education.
