I will never forget the moment that, together with the whole world watching the Conclave last May 8, 2025, we saw the white smoke signaling that a Pope had been elected.  Then Cardinal Robert Francis Prevost stepped out and announced that he would be taking the name Pope Leo XIV, honoring the name of Pope Leo XIII who became famous for being the first Pope to issue what is now known as a social encyclical, a letter issued to Catholics and all men and women of good will that touches on doctrinal and moral guidelines about social and political matters.  Pope Leo XIV explicitly referred to Artificial Intelligence (AI) as a hot topic in today’s digital age that urgently requires moral guidelines from the Supreme Pontiff if it is to really benefit mankind and not unleash evil forces as its own creator, Nobel laureate Jeffrey Hinton, recently warned.  What made this event especially meaningful to me and a group of top executives who traveled to Barcelona to attend a micro credential course was the very topic of the course, “The Ethical Dimensions of Artificial Intelligence.”  We could imagine the newly elected Pope talking directly to us. Yes, Your Holiness, we discussed the ethical dimensions of AI in that short seminar conducted by very able professors of the famous IESE Business School, one of the best in the world.

            First, let me briefly define the social doctrine of the Church.  It sets forth matters for reflection, criteria for judgment and guidelines for action on social and political issues confronting people in the middle of the world.  To illustrate, the world faced by Pope Leo XIII during the period 1790 to 1830 was what we now refer to as the First Industrial Revolution (IR 1.0).  It was the age of the steam engine, the spinning jenny and other mechanical devices that significantly improved the productivity of human labor.  The downside was that the introduction of what was called “capital” by economist led to production systems that were inhuman, e.g. long working hours for adult males at starvation wages, the exploitation of child labor, the employment of even pregnant women for long hours.  Those who have read the famous novels of Charles Dickens do not even have to read the history of England to picture the inhumanities connected with the First Industrial Revolution.

The owners of the machines and tools were called capitalists who became infamous for being obsessed with making maximum profits at the expense of the workers.  It was, therefore, necessary for  the Supreme Moral Teacher, the Pope, to come out with the necessary doctrinal and moral guidelines about the new social order brought about by IR 1.0 .  “Rerum Novarum” is Latin for “Of New Things.”    It was issued on May 15, 1891.  It addressed the conditions of the working classes during the First Industrial Revolution.  Although more than a century has passed since it was published (in fact, in 1991 St. John Paul II issued an encyclical entitled Centessimus Annus to commemorate its publication), many of the social and political problems that it addressed are still very much present, especially in developing countries like the Philippines.  Just consider the present controversy about minimum wage legislation in the Philippines.  In fact, President BBM was criticized for not bringing up the issue in his recent State of the Nation Address.

Let me briefly summarize here the content of Rerum Novarum.  Pope Leo XIII gave very specific guidelines on the rights and duties of capital and labor.  According to him, workers have a right to a fair wage, safe working conditions, and rest.  Although there was no explicit reference to a minimum wage, it was clear that the dignity of the worker as a human being would require that he receive what he needs to support himself and his family with a minimum of comfort and dignity.  We shall discuss this in greater detail later.  Employers have duties to treat workers with respect and justice.  In turn, workers have the obligation to perform their work honestly and to avoid violence.  Rerum Novarum, in response to the claim of Karl Marx that private property is evil and must be abolished, made it clear that the right to private property is natural and must be protected.  The State has no right to abolish private property as Socialism proposes.    In fact, Socialism was condemned for promoting class struggle and abolishing private property.  Furthermore, Socialism harms society by undermining its very foundation, the family. 

It is the role of the State to ensure justice and protect the vulnerable.  Government intervention is justified when workers are exploited.  Workers in turn have a right to form associations or unions for mutual support.  These should aim at the common good, not class struggle or conflict, as espoused by the Marxists.  The family is the basic unit of society and should be supported.  A just society cannot do without moral and religious education.  The Church has the right and duty to provide this moral and religious education.  It must speak out on social issues and advocate for justice.  It offers spiritual guidance and the principles for building a humane society.

There are great expectations Pope Leo XIV will issue a document paralleling Rerum Novarum in giving the world similar points for reflection, criteria for judgment and guidelines for action on the new order brought about by Industrial Revolution 4.0, especially as regards the impact on the family, civil society, business and the State of Artificial Intelligence, Robotics, the Internet of Things, Data Analytics and Social Media. It has only been five months since he was elected Pope.  Already Pope Leo XIV has been outspoken about the moral challenges posed by AI to the modern world.  As can be gleaned from ChatGPT, from the outset of his pontificate, Leo XIV has identified AI as one of “humanity’s most pressing challenges,” paralleling the Industrial Revolution that was addressed by his namesake Pope Leo XIII through Rerum Novarum.  Leo emphasizes that AI must serve—not replace—human beings; it should uphold justice, protect labor rights, and avoid undermining human identity and dignity.  He warns of digital labor precariousness, algorithmic control, and power concentration within tech oligopolies, urging technologies to promote the common good, solidarity, subsidiarity and sustainability. 

Taken from the deep pool of the social doctrine accumulated since the first papal social encyclical of his namesake, let us remind ourselves of these key concepts from the social doctrine of the Church which proceed from natural law and, therefore, can be accepted by any person of good will, whatever his or her religious belief (or no belief) may be.  As one of those who drafted the Philippine Constitution of 1987, I can attest to the fact that these social principles are embedded in the Declaration of Principles of our Constitution.  First, the concept of the common good.  Our Constitution is based on a concept of the common good as “a social or juridical order that promotes the integral human development of each and every member of society.”  It is not the “greatest good for the greatest number” as is promoted in utilitarian societies where the truth is determined by majority rule and not on the basis of an unchanging natural law. A good number of countries today, especially from the developed world, are suffering from moral decay precisely because they have embraced the “woke culture” which is based on the belief that truth is based on majority rule. To be continued.