EU tells EWTN News that Pope Leo’s AI vision mirrors Europe’s own rules

Brussels says the popeʼs encyclical Magnifica Humanitas echoes values already written into Europeʼs tech laws, even as Parliament moves to ease parts of the AI Act.

The European Commission has told EWTN News that Pope Leo XIV’s call for AI to serve human dignity and the common good reflects principles already embedded in the EU’s approach to regulating technology, as lawmakers voted on Tuesday to postpone certain obligations under the bloc’s landmark AI Act.

“We could not agree more with the vision of His Holiness Pope Leo XIV and with the need for a robust legal framework for AI,” Thomas Regnier, European Commission spokesperson for tech sovereignty, security, and democracy, told EWTN News following a recent Commission dialogue bringing together EU officials, Church leaders, and experts to discuss AI’s ethical and social impact.

“In the EU, this is not just an aspiration. It is already what we are doing through the AI Act, the Digital Services Act, the Digital Markets Act, the GDPR and much more,” Regnier said.

From Magnifica Humanitas to Brussels

The closed dialogue followed Pope Leo XIV’s encyclical Magnifica Humanitas, published May 25, and offered an early opportunity to gauge whether its themes are resonating with those implementing Europe’s AI rulebook. The discussions included senior officials from the EU’s AI Office, which oversees implementation of the Act.

The encyclical sets out Pope Leo’s vision for safeguarding human dignity, human agency, and the common good amid rapidly advancing technologies. Its presentation at the Vatican last month included Christopher Olah, co-founder of Anthropic, as the Holy See seeks to engage directly with frontier AI developers.

Responding to questions from EWTN News, Regnier said Pope Leo’s concerns closely align with existing European policies.

“What the Pope describes is what Europe is already doing,” Regnier said.

“We are protecting minors online. We have banned AI systems that exploit the most vulnerable. We are protecting women and children from non-consensual and sexual-abuse AI-generated content. We have prohibited social scoring.”

“His Holiness speaks of human dignity and the common good. These are exactly the European values.”

Parliament pauses high-risk AI requirements

Regnier’s comments come as the European Parliament approved amendments on Tuesday postponing certain obligations affecting high-risk AI systems under the Act, including systems used in health care, education, employment, and law enforcement, a move supporters say will provide legal certainty while harmonized standards are developed.

Irish MEP Michael McNamara, one of Parliament’s lead negotiators on the legislation, defended the postponement, arguing businesses need regulatory certainty without weakening the Act’s core safeguards.

“We live in an area of rule of law, and one of the things that is most important is regulatory certainty and clarity in what one’s legal obligations are,” McNamara said following Tuesday’s vote.

He said it was regrettable that implementation had to be delayed because harmonized standards had not yet been developed, but stressed that “the protections, the fundamental rights protections, the requirement that you have human beings in the loop, that you have a human override, these all remain in place.”

Referring to Pope Leo’s encyclical and Antiqua et Nova, a Vatican reflection on AI issued during Pope Francis’ pontificate, McNamara said it was essential to ensure “that AI systems work for the benefit of humanity” and that society does not “ever end up in a system where humanity is subjugated by AI systems.”

COMECE urges human-centered regulation

AI has been high on the EU agenda this month, with the Commission of the Bishops’ Conferences of the European Union (COMECE) convening a seminar at the European Parliament examining AI’s impact on health, loneliness, and children’s well-being.

Speaking on behalf of COMECE, Monsignor Emmanuel Agius, professor of moral theology at the University of Malta, argued that the challenge was not simply whether digital environments require regulation, but whether regulation is guided by “an adequate understanding of the human person.”

While acknowledging AI’s promise in health care and research, he warned of growing risks linked to loneliness, addictive behaviors, disinformation, and the impact of digital environments on children and young people. Describing loneliness as a growing public health concern, he said technological innovation should complement rather than replace meaningful human relationships and care, particularly for vulnerable people.

AI rules must remain dynamic

In a recorded message to seminar participants, European Parliament President Roberta Metsola warned that “AI can move faster than our ability to understand it, let alone govern it” and stressed that rules must be “smart, proportionate, and able to work in the real world.”

In his response to EWTN News, Regnier similarly noted that “developments in the field of AI are advancing at an extremely high speed” and “the AI Act was designed as a dynamic and adaptable regulatory framework that is capable of evolving over time.”

He pointed to recently agreed prohibitions on so-called “nudification” applications that generate non-consensual sexually explicit content or child sexual abuse material, saying the updated rules seek to ensure that Europeans can benefit from AI while remaining protected from its harmful effects.

“The EU will continue to protect our values and the fundamental rights of every European,” Regnier said. “Within this robust legal framework, we now need to invest even more in the responsible uptake of this technology and in the use of AI as a benefit for humankind and a force for good.”