Pope Leo XIV and French President Emmanuel Macron attend a joint statement at the Elysee Palace in Paris on Friday.
Teresa Suárez/AP
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Teresa Suárez/AP
PARIS – Pope Leo XIV warned Friday that a “paradise of machines” risked undermining humanity as he began a trip to France raising fundamental questions about what it means to be human in the age of artificial intelligence, the nuclear arms race and other threats to life itself.
Leo raised existential concerns about scientific progress, life and human rights during his keynote address to President Emmanuel Macron and authorities at the Elysée Palace and later to diplomats and United Nations employees at the headquarters of UNESCO, the U.N. culture and education organization.
As wars rage in Europe and the Middle East, he reaffirmed the Vatican’s opposition to nuclear weapons and said the nuclear deterrence doctrine was “wrong” as it was only fueling a new arms race.
“Peace is not a balance of powers, but is built day by day through dialogue and justice,” he stated.
Leo spends four intense days in France, where the Catholic Church has lost ground in influencing ethical issues given the strict approach to secularism enshrined in the French Constitution.
Church bells rang across the country as Leo’s charter flight landed at Paris’ Orly airport, and more than a million people are expected to turn out to watch. They lined the streets of the capital as Leo’s motorcade passed by, underlining the surprising level of interest in Leo’s visit, the first official state visit by a Pope in 18 years.
Macron said Leo’s visit brings “a source of hope” to many French people.
“France is on the side of peace, effective multilateralism, respect for international law and the Charter of the United Nations… because each life has the same value and all peoples must be defended,” he stated.
A culminating visit at the end of Macron’s mandate
For Macron, who has been barred from seeking a third term in May elections, hosting the American pope is something of a cornerstone. Pope Francis had repeatedly refused to make a proper state visit to France during his 12-year pontificate and deliberately refused to join the inauguration of the rebuilt Notre Dame cathedral in 2024.
“For a president of the republic like Macron, who is at the end of his term, it may be important to be next to the Pope and capture a part of his popularity,” said Charles Mercier, director of history and sociology of Catholicism studies at the EPHE University in Paris.
With seven months left in his term, Macron’s approval ratings are near record lows, driven by anger over the rising cost of living and criticism of France’s ballooning debt and deficit and deteriorating public services.
Smiling widely as Leo spoke French, Macron thanked the pope for his visit and said: “You are here with us for an extended visit, giving us your time, and that is moving.”
The Rev. Aristide Ahidote, of the Ivory Coast, was among those planning to attend the pope’s vespers service at Notre Dame later on Friday. “God has given us a Pope with vigor and strength,” he said.
While acknowledging that the popularity of the French church has waned, Ahidote said, “it still has little remnants and these little remnants have been uplifting to me.”
Leo appeals to higher questions about life
Unlike Francis, who liked to travel to small Catholic communities far from Rome, León has wanted to emphasize and awaken the Christian roots of Europe. It seeks to advance the church’s message about the value and dignity of human life in a country where the right to abortion was enshrined in the 2024 constitution, and where lawmakers recently gave final approval to a bill allowing adults with incurable diseases to receive lethal medications.
The French Catholic hierarchy strongly opposed the measures, in accordance with Catholic teaching that human life must be protected and defended from conception to natural death.
In his speech to Macron and other government and diplomatic authorities, Leo reminded France of its “deep Christian roots” and especially asked the French to remember that the right to life is the “indispensable foundation of every other human right.”
His concern for the dignity of human life and humanity as a whole extended to the threats posed by artificial intelligence.
“The paradox has become increasingly evident: while ‘intelligence’ is attributed to computer systems, we struggle to recognize the inalienable dignity of human persons, whose lives are judged by the criterion of efficiency and, when considered non-productive, are rejected and discarded,” he said.
From the beginning of his pontificate, Leo identified AI as one of the greatest challenges facing humanity. He dedicated his first encyclical to the topic “Magnificent Humanity,” calling for strong regulation and for AI developers to work for the common good rather than profit.
Leo also called on AI developers and the political leaders responsible for regulating them to slow down, a call that several major AI companies appear to have taken seriously recently.
“If we want to avoid losing our humanity in the midst of a ‘paradise of machines’ that invades and conditions our daily lives, it is urgent to educate in ethical discernment and the ability to recognize moral good,” he stated.
Speaking to reporters on the way to Paris, Leo said he was glad his message was heard and said he hoped the dialogue the Vatican had started with technology companies would continue.
“And I think from their perspective, many of them are very open to looking for ways to make sure that AI doesn’t displace or ultimately destroy humanity, but rather is a tool for human beings,” he said. “At least good things are starting.”
