Pope warns AI and advanced weapons risk a 'spiral of annihilation' in La Sapienza encyclical

Pope Leo XIV used a visit to Rome’s Sapienza University on May 14 to deliver his clearest warning yet on artificial intelligence in war, saying investment in AI and advanced weaponry risks a “spiral of annihilation.” The remarks came in a speech that tied technological development to armed conflict, youth anxiety and the defense of human dignity. Vatican News said Leo urged students to become “artisans of true peace” and warned against rising military spending and the use of AI in warfare. Reports from AP, carried by PBS and public radio outlets, said the pope linked the warning to his appeals for peace in the Middle East and Ukraine. (vaticannews.va) ### What exactly did Leo say at La Sapienza? Pope Leo XIV said on May 14 that investment in artificial intelligence and high-tech weaponry was pushing the world toward a “spiral of annihilation,” according to AP’s report from Rome and Vatican coverage of the visit. Vatican News said he paired that warning with an appeal for “an unarmed and disarming peace” and urged young people not to give in to resignation. Rome’s Sapienza University gave Leo a platform that reached students and faculty at Europe’s largest university. (vaticannews.va) Vatican News said the pope praised the institution’s work with poorer students, people with disabilities, prisoners and refugees, and highlighted an agreement with the Diocese of Rome to open a humanitarian corridor from Gaza. ### Why is AI becoming a signature issue for this pope? Pope Leo XIV has been building an AI message for months, not just in this week’s university speech. (pbs.org) In a June 17, 2025 message to a Vatican-linked conference on artificial intelligence, ethics and corporate governance, Leo said AI is “above all else a tool” and warned it could be misused “to foment conflict and aggression.” He said the Church wanted to contribute to a “serene and informed discussion” centered on the “integral development of the human person and society.” (vaticannews.va) Axios reported on May 14 that Leo was expected to sign his first encyclical as soon as May 15 and make AI the central moral and labor issue of that document. Catholic outlets including OSV News and Catholic Courier separately reported that the encyclical was expected to be signed May 15 and released by the end of May. ### What is an encyclical, and why does this one matter? An encyclical is one of the pope’s highest-profile teaching documents, aimed primarily at Catholic bishops but read far beyond the church. (vatican.va) The Vatican’s public site lists papal encyclicals and other magisterial texts as part of the Holy See’s formal teaching archive, which is why Leo’s first encyclical would carry more weight than a speech or interview. Axios said the expected text would seek to place human dignity, labor rights and ethics at the center of the AI debate. (axios.com) That would extend concerns already visible in Leo’s public remarks, where he has treated AI less as a narrow technology issue than as a question about work, truth, war and what counts as fully human. ### Is the Vatican trying to regulate technology companies? The Vatican has no direct power to regulate AI developers, platforms or weapons makers. Leo’s own 2025 message described the Church’s role as contributing to ethical debate and evaluating AI by whether it protects the “inviolable dignity of each human person.” That language points to moral pressure, not legal enforcement. (vatican.va) Axios reported in April that the Holy See was trying to shape “rules and guardrails” around truth and AI-era verification, even though it could not control the technology itself. (axios.com) That effort fits with Leo’s recent speeches, which frame AI as a domain where the Church intends to speak in moral terms while governments and companies make policy and product decisions. ### Why did Leo connect AI to war instead of just jobs or chatbots? May 14 gave Leo a live geopolitical backdrop: AP’s report said he coupled the AI warning with calls for peace in the Middle East and Ukraine. (vatican.va) Vatican News also said he condemned rising military spending while speaking to students about the injustices shaping their generation’s outlook. The June 2025 Vatican message showed the same pattern. Leo wrote then that AI could serve equality but also be used for “selfish gain” or “to foment conflict and aggression,” making warfare and coercion central to his treatment of the technology rather than a side issue. (axios.com) ### What comes next from the Vatican? May 15 is the date multiple outlets said Leo was expected to sign his first encyclical, though the Vatican had not yet published the full text in the material reviewed here. (pbs.org) Catholic Courier and OSV News said the document was expected to be released by the end of May. The next concrete milestone is the Vatican’s publication of the encyclical on its official channels, where papal teaching texts are posted alongside speeches and messages. (vatican.va) Once released, that document will show whether Leo turns Thursday’s warning about a “spiral of annihilation” into formal Catholic teaching on AI, labor and war. (vatican.va) (catholiccourier.com)