Dr. Linda Harrington, Associate Professor of Theology at Briar Cliff University, joins The Catholic Morning Show to break down Pope Leo XIV's first encyclical, Magnifica Humanitas, on safeguarding human dignity in the age of artificial intelligence. She explains how the document draws on Catholic social teaching principles like subsidiarity, solidarity, and the dignity of the human person to address technology's growing role in daily life and faith. Harrington also previews her upcoming four-week class exploring the encyclical in greater depth.
A New Encyclical for a Technological Age Bo Bonner sits down with Dr. Linda Harrington, who holds a PhD in systematic theology and teaches at Briar Cliff University in Sioux City, to discuss Pope Leo XIV's first encyclical, Magnifica Humanitas: On Safeguarding the Human Person in the Time of Artificial Intelligence, released earlier this year. Harrington explains that just as Pope Leo XIII responded to the Industrial Revolution with the social encyclical Rerum Novarum, Pope Leo XIV — who has said he chose his name in part because of his predecessor — is responding to today's technological upheaval.
Key Themes: Dignity, Subsidiarity, and Solidarity Harrington walks through the encyclical's core principles: the dignity of the human person, subsidiarity (that people affected by a decision should have a voice in it), and solidarity with all of creation. She connects the document to Pope Francis's 2024 encyclical Dilexit Nos ("He loved us"), on the love of the Heart of Jesus, noting that Catholic teaching on technology can't be separated from a spirituality rooted in love of neighbor.
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