Magnifica Humanitas – Chapter 5

This is the sixth article in a series on Pope Leo XIV’s new encyclical, Magnifica Humanitas   

• The first article was a general commentary on the encyclical.   
• The second article discussed the introduction and chapter one in more detail.   
• The third article discussed chapter 2, “Foundations and Principles of the Social Doctrine of the Church.”   
• The fourth article discussed chapter 3, “Technology and Dominance:  The Grandeur of Humanity in Light of the Promises of AI.”   
• The fifth article discussed chapter 4, “Safeguarding Humanity at a Time of Transformation, Truth, Work, Freedom.” 
• This article covers chapter 5, “The Culture of Power and the Civilization of Love.” 

One of the most concerning applications of artificial intelligence (AI) is its use in war.  Pope Leo XIV addresses this concern in chapter five of Magnifica Humanitas, He writes, “we must now turn our attention to the yet more tragic issue of war.  Here the question is not merely efficiency of new tools, but also the risk that technology, detached from ethics and responsibility, will render decisions about life and death more rapid and impersonal, and will present the use of force as an immediate and viable option” (182, emphasis added). 

This concern is not just from within our Catholic faith.  Anthropic, one of the leading AI companies, recently took the bold step of requesting that their AI software not be used in fully autonomous weapons. 

Without a doubt, today’s technology, especially AI, is changing the very nature of conflict.  Conflict has been changing for a while with the incorporation of digital technology in the systems that control missiles, planes, and tanks.   Now further development in digital technology is changing conflict by adding “cyberattacks, information manipulation, campaigns of influence, and the automation of strategic decisions” (183) to the ways conflicts are fought. 

There was information manipulation long before computers were developed but computers and AI bring new ways to manipulate images and files that are nearly impossible to recognize as fake.  Social media has brought new meaning to “campaigns of influence.”  The automation of strategic decisions is removing the human factor from the decisions.  AI sees a target to be destroyed instead of recognizing the human person(s) at the target site.  As Pope Leo writes, AI can “foster a culture in which the enemy is reducing to a statistic and the victim to “collateral damage” (183).   

Pope Leo goes on to speak of the mistaken focus on preserving supremacy as driving the arms race.  This can strengthen adversarial divisions instead of building a “holy city of coexistence and peace” (185).  As Pope Leo expresses, it leads to a loss in “an overall mission” (185). 

From this Pope Leo turns to Pope St. Paul VI’s phrase “the civilization of love” first used during the Cold War.  We need a vision that incorporates justice and charity with love as a basic guiding principle (Pope, 186).   

In a world of globalization, we must work to move ourselves from “imposed interdependence into a willed and chosen solidarity” (Pope Leo, 187).  Pope Leo calls us to find a way to use AI “to build a universal human family with shared rights and duties, where digital proximity becomes a real opportunity for encounter and mutual care” (187, emphasis added).  If a conflict is fought by AI with no human interaction on both sides, we fail to encounter the persons involved.  In doing so, we have lost our humanity and closed ourselves off from an opportunity to love. 

Here I wonder, “can an arms race ever be won without losing one’s soul?”  I am greatly concerned that we place our souls in grave peril if our concern rests on supremacy for is this not pride, one of the seven deadly sins?  At best, it is letting fear control our lives. 

If we paid attention to the instantaneous news of the digital world, we should be more aware than ever of the devasting effects of war on innocent people with innocent deaths, destabilization, and wounds like PTSD.  Instead, we see increasing destruction from bigger and more destructive weapons (see Pope Leo, 189).  Pope Leo writes of a “paradigm shift” to rearmament and a “revival of war as an instrument of international politics” (190).  War should be a last resort (Pope Leo, 189), not a diplomatic tool. 

Pope Leo next speaks of a “disconcerting loss of historical memory” (191) as those who experience the Holocaust and two world wars pass from this world.  History is being rewritten in a distorted way that keeps people from remembering the devastation of past wars (191).  We must never forget the harm of past wars or war can become more acceptable (192).   

With this in mind, Pope Leo, while recognizing the right to self-defense, calls us see “just war theory” as outdated.  When I first read this, I was confused by Pope Leo’s statement that just war theory is outdated.  Those of you who are regular readers of my blog know that I have written multiple times on how we see the war with Iran and Israel as well as the war between the Ukraine and Russia in terms of Just War Theory (see my blog articles on “Just War Theory – Real Life Application”).  I am not alone here as I have seen stories in Catholic news venues asking if the war with Iran is just. 

Having read Pope Leo’s words that just war theory is outdated several times and prayed over it, I think what Pope Leo is saying is that it is time to realize that the idea that a war can be just may be outdated.  Wars are no longer evitable because, as Pope Leo writes, “Humanity possesses far more effective and capable tools for promoting human life and resolving conflicts, such as dialogue, diplomacy, and forgiveness.  The use of force, violences and weapons reflects a relational poverty that always has disastrous consequences for the civilian population” (192).   War often involves hate and hate only brings more hate.  It is love that can change the world.  The Father’s Love for us is revealed when He sends Jesus to save us (see John 3:16-17).  Jesus reveals his own love for us when He willingly lays down his life for our sins (see John 15:13).  The only appropirate response to God’s Love from us is for us to love God and our neighbor in return. 

Pope Leo then offers a simple and well-known thought, “It is much easier to start a war than to stop it” (195).  I think the present war with Iran serves as clear proof that this statement is true.   

From here, Pope Leo turns to a discussion of “artificial moral agents.”   One might think that A.I. should be more objective and more neutral but, as Pope Leo had told us earlier, it has the biases of its creators (102).  Now, he adds to this that AI is not human and cannot see the human person at the target site as human (198).  Is morality not based on caring for human persons? 

Pope Leo always writes of the danger of autonomous AI as a means for the people who are responsible for the decisions of war to abdicate their responsibility.  The chain of command and responsibility needs to remain clear.  It must distinguish between “combatants and non-combatants” and consider “defenseless populations” (199).  AI might be programmed to include this as part of its “calculations” but decisions involving these considerations are not mere mathematical calcuation.  It is about lives, especially innocent lives.  How do you assign a number for the value of life in a mathematical calcuation? 

Related to the globalization of our world, most especially in economic terms, Pope Leo next speaks of “multilateralism” and “a prevailing sense of mistrust” (201).  He speaks of how there is some tendency “to forge a collective identity in opposition to an enemy, fueled by narratives in which each party portrays itself as a victim entitled to retribution” (202).  It may sound good to come together to fight the common enemy but we must carefully evaluate what type of action is necessary.  Our ultimate enemy is the devil and sin.  We lose to our enemy if we do not act justly. 

We must let go of any notion that war is inevitable.  There is always hope for nothing is impossible for God.  Pope Leo offers us five paths forward (213ff). 

The first is “The need to disarm words.”  How many times have hateful and threatening words been exchanged in the present war with Iran?  Has a single one of these words done any good (214)? 

The second path offered by Pope Leo is “Building peace through justice.”  How many wars in the past have started because people had been deprived of their basic needs and what is their due (justice)? 

The third path is “Adapting the perspective of victims.”  By this, Pope Leo does not mean seeing ourselves as victims but rather seeing things from the perspective of innocent victims affected by military attacks.  We must be a voice for the voiceless (216-217). 

The fourth path is “Cultivating a healthy realism.”  We need to consider how we can really change the world for the better, not wishful thinking like if we just get a bad person out of power. 

The fifth and last path is “Reviving dialogue.”  When I see news reports on the negotiations with Iran and Israel, I sometimes wonder if they are really, seriously, and openly, talking to one another.  Pope Leo describes the needed dialogue as “It involves acquiring an attitude that seeks to forge bonds of fraternity built on listening, an open demeanor, making time for each other, and even wasting time together.”  It requires “authentic encounters with others” (220, emphasis added).   

If we want peace in this world, we need to allow the Peace of Christ to enter us and to transform us.  Then, we must allow God to work through us to transform others. 

I here conclude my reflection on the fifth chapter of Magnifica Humanitas.  My next and final article in this series will reflect on Pope Leo’s conclusion to Magnifica Humanitas. 

Peace, 

Fr. Jeff