Pope Leo XIV Warns "we must prevent the growth of new forms of dehumanization and manipulation" and Calls for Critical Engagement "with artificial intelligence"

Pope Leo XIV addressed the Advisory Board of the RCS Academy, a higher school of formation in the fields of journalism, economics, communication, and enterprise. The Pope expressed his delight to meet them in days where they are discussing the possibility of a new humanism in the digital age.
ADDRESS OF HIS HOLINESS POPE LEO XIV
TO THE MEMBERS OF THE ADVISORY BOARD OF THE RCS ACADEMY
Clementine Hall on Friday, November 7, 2025
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Mr. President,
Ladies and Gentlemen!

I'm pleased to meet you in these particularly challenging times: I know you're gathering to discuss the possibility of a new humanism in the digital age. I therefore extend special encouragement to my greeting, as you will discuss the relationship between ethics and artificial intelligence, and how communication can serve people and not become a system of algorithms that endlessly reproduce, without any awareness or conscious thought, our reasoning, transforming it into mere data.

The Academy of which you are the advisory board, the RCS Academy , is a leading training institution in the fields of journalism, economics, communications, and business. You too, therefore, find yourself facing a significant educational challenge. Education, in fact, is what activates and transforms the equal dignity of all human beings, promoting effective local and global citizenship, under the banner of participation, solidarity, and freedom. For this reason, education in navigating digital environments and critically engaging with artificial intelligence is essential and must not be separated from the integral development of individuals and communities.

To this end, we must prevent the growth of new forms of dehumanization and manipulation in the information overload and knowledge vacuum, which—under cover—pass off exploitation as care and lies as truth.

Your job therefore appears twofold: it's about informing responsibly and, at the same time, enabling your audience to critically evaluate everything, to distinguish fact from opinion, true news from false. Recognizing and making accessible the logic behind messages is essential to acting conscientiously and responsibly in shaping the overall public discourse. Large corporations play a crucial role in these processes, not only as cultural patrons but also as committed front-line actors.

Naturally, this careful work involves economics and corporate strategy, and therefore all of you, your growth and communication goals. Sometimes we hear the phrase, " Business is business! " In reality, this isn't the case. None of you are absorbed in an organization to the point of becoming a cog, or a mere function. Nor is there true humanism without critical thinking, without constant rethinking, without the courage to ask questions that interrogate the meaning of our actions: where are we going? Who and what are we working for? How are we making the world a better place? Such reflections require courage and foresight, because there is no future without justice.

In particular, the communications economy cannot and must not separate its destiny from that of truth. Transparency of sources and ownership, accountability , quality, clarity, and objectivity are the keys to truly opening the right of citizenship to all peoples. A merely formal affirmation of this right would otherwise appear to be a wound to human society and a betrayal of its weakest or most marginalized members (see Address to Participants in the 39th Conference of the Minds International Association , October 9, 2025).

In this regard, I urge you not to forget the message that Pope Francis addressed to the editor of Corriere della Sera during his last hospital stay . He recommended this to those who work in the news: "Feel the full importance of words. They are never just words: they are facts that construct human environments. They can connect or divide, serve the truth or exploit it. We must disarm words, to disarm minds and disarm the Earth. There is a great need for reflection, for calm, for a sense of complexity" ( Letter to the Editor of "Corriere della Sera" , March 14, 2025).

From these words, we draw a call for responsibility and honesty in fulfilling our respective roles, to build the information of the future together. This undertaking requires creativity and vision. It requires farsighted and constructive thinking, freeing communication from the rush of fashion, the bias of interests, and the polemics that fail to educate listening. The "new things" we must face require fresh thinking and new perspectives, capable of engaging those who are excluded or exploited by the logic of power. This is the challenge for those who circulate "news."

The world needs honest and courageous entrepreneurs and communicators who care for the common good. Therefore, I hope you will always be aware of your role, looking beyond the narrow horizon of what may seem like immediate benefits, but are actually ways of impoverishing the future. May the Gospel of Christ, which remains ever good news for the world, always inspire you on your journey. And may my blessing accompany you. Thank you.
Source: Vatican.va Bulletin with Vatican Media Image