Pope Leo XIV warned this Friday in Paris against the risk of losing “our humanity in the midst of the ‘paradise of machines’ that invade and condition our daily lives,” in a context of growing concern about artificial intelligence.
Citing successively illustrious figures in the history of France such as Clovis, the writer Georges Bernanos, the Nobel Peace Prize winner René Cassin and the priest Saint Vincent de Paul, the pontiff paid tribute to this secular country, among veiled warnings.
He Pope Leo XIV He described “genetic manipulations, surrogacy, organ purchasing” and “the offer of a programmed death” as “derivatives” of science and technology, which are not guided by conscience.
In March 2023, France became the first country to inscribe the “guaranteed freedom” to abort in its Constitution and, at the end of last July, approved the right to euthanasia and assisted suicide in certain cases.
“The protection of the right to life constitutes the essential foundation of any other human right,” added the spiritual leader of 1.4 billion Catholics in the world.
Seven months before the presidential election in France, crucial for the European Union, Leo XIV He assured that “just secularism does not consist of excluding religion from public space” and advocated for an “urgent” dialogue between people of different cultures and religions.
The principle of secularism is a topic of recurring tension in public debate, especially around the use of the Islamic veil, whose ban in public spaces is proposed by the far-right Marine Le Pen.
“In the face of the roar of wars,” the pontiff also urged France, a nuclear power, to “continue to be a tireless architect of peace,” especially in “beloved Europe,” and warned of the “erroneous conviction that the possession of nuclear weapons would be a guarantee of security.”