‘MAGNIFICA HUMANITAS’

Part 6: In this last installment, Pope Leo offers six ways to build the common good

The logo of Meta is seen during the Viva Technology conference dedicated to innovation and startups at Porte de Versailles exhibition center in Paris June 12, 2025. (OSV News photo/Benoit Tessier, Reuters) (Courtesy photo of Benoit Tessier)

This is our last in a series reflecting on Pope Leo XIV’s encyclical “Magnifica Humanitas” and last week’s installment on the vast problems in our world, by Leo’s own admission, might have seemed “bleak and pessimistic.” But Leo reminds us that the “Christian perspective … is not limited to denouncing evil. … Even in the darkest nights, the Lord raises up men and women who refuse to give up, who persevere in doing good, who protect the vulnerable and open pathways to reconciliation.” He says that “even when suffering seems to have the last word, Christians serve the good and are sustained by a theological hope that gives reality both meaning and direction” (210-211).

In other words, despite the great problems that we face through artificial intelligence and through those in power who abuse it, our Catholic tradition offers ways forward that build up the common good … and all of us have a part to play. He quotes J.R.R. Tolkien, author of “The Hobbit” and “The Lord of the Rings:” “It is not our part to master all the tides of the world, but to do what is in us for the succour of those years wherein we are set, uprooting the evil in the fields that we know, so that those who life after may have clean earth to till” (213). Leo offers six paths we can all take.

1. The need to disarm words

Whether it’s on the world stage or in our everyday lives, we can all use the way we speak as a weapon, whether it’s through sarcasm, passive aggression, mockery or threatening language. It can happen at home, at work, in our neighborhood … all the way to the world stage by people in power. It’s a way of speaking that can even happen within our parish groups! But Leo says that we “we must all, therefore, examine our conscience regarding the words we use, the prejudices we have and explicit or implicit aggression that lies within them. We have a real opportunity to contribute to the common good each time we speak the truth, offer wise advice, support those in need of comfort, denouncing injustice and give a voice to the voiceless” (214).

2. Building peace through justice

Leo recovers the ancient voices of the Old Testament prophets and the Church Fathers in their cry for justice. He cites St. Augustine who observed that “There is no one who shuns the desire for peace, yet not everyone is willing to practice justice. …Do you therefore wish to attain peace? Then practice justice!” (215). We are not to take whatever we want or to manipulate things for our own advantage. God is a God of justice and we must do our part to make sure things are fair, especially for the poor and vulnerable, whose voice is often ignored.

3. Adopting the perspective of the victim

Likewise, he asks us to see the world from those who suffer, not just in our own backyard but wherever people cry to be heard. Our tradition remembers many who have suffered unjustly, just like our Lord did. Why do we remember these things? “Giving space to the perspectives and voices of victims through communication and education helps us to become aware of the abyss of evil inherent in war, and generally in all forms of violence.” Why does that matter to us? Leo tells us that it “helps us to reject the normalization of conflict; not to turn away when human dignity is violated; and to restore to victims the dignity of being recognized and heard.” The Church, in fact, “can be a place of living memory of victims” (217). It’s important to remember that in both Old and New Testaments, God entrusts the poor and oppressed to those who are more advantaged.

4. Cultivating a healthy realism

Leo says that we “are in need of a healthy realism that avoids both political idealism and cynicism” (218). It is no use to be either blindly optimistic or stubbornly pessimistic. A Christian realizes the problems in the world while patiently working to make the world a better place in the hope that God will provide us what we need to fulfill our calling. 

5. Reviving dialogue

One of the most tragic things that can happen in a family is when conflict leads to a total breakdown in communication. It takes a lot of patience and courage to be a peacemaker in these situations, to revive the lines of communication and to allow for dialogue to happen. This is no less true on the world stage, where exploitation and violence take the place of dialogue. And just like in a family, where a conflict between family members affects the well-being of everyone surrounding them, so it is among nations, where everyday people become collateral damage to the interests of those in power. As Leo writes: “The people of our world desire peace, and to their leaders I appeal with all my heart: Let us meet, let us talk, let us negotiate! War is never inevitable” (222).

6. The need for diplomacy and multilateralism

Lastly, Leo wants us to consider how countries can work together to work toward the common good. Many, if not all, of us are facing the same kind of problems as technology is weapon­ized to disrupt or cripple nations, often as a precursor to war. Leo notes “Cyberattacks, data manipulation, and campaigns of influence, orchestrated with the help of AI,” leading to “invisible” yet real forms of violence” (225). He quotes Pope Francis, who said that “the vocation of diplomacy is to foster dialogue with all parties, including those interlocutors considered less ‘convenient’ or not considered legitimized to negotiate” (224). He calls on those in power to defend “the dignity of every person and (speak) up on behalf of the poor, migrants and victims of war” (227).

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Now perhaps, at some point in our journey through “Magnifica Humanitas,” you might have wondered why a pope was wading the same waters as Big Tech and international politics. On what basis does he do this? How is this even remotely a Catholic endeavor? Leo’s conclusion to the encyclical shows us that his reasons for writing this are pastoral, rooted not just in theology proper but also Christology, that branch of theology that considers the nature, person and mission of Jesus, which in turn reveals who God made us to be. He even ties it to how we worship, which not only directs us toward honoring God and being in community with one another but toward our mission as disciples sent out even to those places where the Kingdom of God has yet to take hold. As he writes: “I would like to propose a sober yet demanding program of Christian life with which we can navigate the epochal change in the light of the Gospel. This avenue emerges through contemplating God’s plan, living ecclesial unity by partaking of the Eucharist, building a world centered on the common good and praying in union with the Blessed Virgin Mary” (229).

In short, he considers how in Christ, God became a human being, taking on human flesh and, in doing so, embraces the totality of humanity. He does this not to leave us in our sin but, through his death, resurrection and ascension, redeems humanity and all of creation so that we may be made holy, drawn up to our Creator so that we may experience communion with the Triune God. This act of the Son of God taking human flesh sees the goodness within creation, deeming that there is goodness to be found all over the place and that it is redeemable. He therefore deems anything that is authentically human to be a possible encounter with God through his Son Jesus.

Since there is much in this historical, technological and political moment that threatens the human person, it is only right for the Church to speak up, to recognize the good but, out of love, to call out those things that can harm us. Leo can see that, for example, in the transhuman and posthuman movements that seek to transcend humanity, that humanity is better served by Jesus. Why? Consider the words of St. Athanasius of Alexandria (d. 373CE) who said “The Son of God became man so that we might become God.” In other words, a humanity relying on technology isn’t thinking too big when it envisions a humanity enhanced by technology … it’s thinking far too small!

Or consider social media, which promises a form of community that many still find isolating and hollow. Through incorporation into Christ, we become part of His Body, the Church. The worship of the believing community, a worship whose apex is the Eucharist, binds us together as a family of love that is united to the self-giving love of the Son, allowing us to participate in the inner life of the living God. It’s a celebration that calls together all the people in the world regardless of their background and, throughout history, the altar (or table of the Lord) was where all people found both freedom and true equality. At its best, it’s a vision of transformed humanity that is carried out from the Church into the wider world.

This is a view of the world that is both truly humane and yet godly as well, just as Jesus, the Incarnate Son of God, is both truly God and truly human. Pope Leo lastly asks us to see things through the eyes of the Blessed Virgin Mary in her Magnificat, where she acknowledges the providence and power of God in the grave challenges of our time while embracing the perspective of those who suffer. Leo believes we must do no differently.

Tom Acemoglu is Pastoral Associate for Evangelization and Catechesis at St. Ambrose Church in Latham. He has 25 years of experience in parish ministry and has worked in the church for 18 years.