Archbishop Hicks of New York: 'Magnifica humanitas' to shape future generations

In an interview with Vatican News, Archbishop Ronald Hicks of New York calls Pope Leo XIV9;s first encyclical 9;Magnifica humanitas9; essential for generations to come and insists that Pope Leo is raising the right issues, especially on the transforming nature of work, as young people of his Archdiocese ask: 9;Am I studying for a career that won9;t exist in 10 years?9;

Archbishop Ronald Hicks of New York in St. Patrick9;s Cathedral (AFP or licensors)

'I feel that the Holy Father has his finger on the pulse of the real issues of what9;s going on in this world. He9;s addressing them. AI is here to stay'

In an interview with Vatican News following Pope Leo XIV9;s first encyclical, Archbishop Ronald Hicks of New York expressed this, as he welcomed the Holy Father’s decision to address AI early in his pontificate.

Describing Magnifica humanitas as “timely,” “relevant,” and essential for generations to come, the Archbishop of New York recognizes that artificial intelligence is here to stay and praises Pope Leo for confronting the issue directly and working to ensure technological development remains rooted in human dignity and the common good.

He expresses his gratitude to the Holy Father 'for giving us in such an early stage of his pontificate, something like this, of substance and something that9;s relevant and needed.'

Archbishop Hicks, what do you see as the significance of Pope Leo XIV’s first encyclical, Magnifica humanitas?

First of all, I9;m really grateful for this encyclical. I feel that the Holy Father has his finger on the pulse of the real issues of what9;s going on in this world. He9;s addressing them. AI is here to stay, and it9;s something that everyone is talking about. I think our Holy Father, from the very beginning, he9;s demonstrating that as a Church, we9;re going to engage in the world and we9;re going to engage in real topics. This is a timely issue. This is a relevant issue. What I also appreciate about what he9;s set up in this encyclical is that he9;s taking dialogue seriously. He wants to have conversations around AI and what9;s the best way to use it. He9;s not saying, let9;s just hide from it and let9;s pretend it doesn9;t exist. He9;s saying it does exist, but where is there going to be some ethical governance; where is there going to be some shared responsibility; where9;s there going to be the cooperation in actually how we use AI for the common good. I9;m not only grateful, I9;m really excited about this encyclical. I think the world needs it. It9;s being very well received. I can9;t wait for us to continue with this dialogue in this conversation with each other about it.

Right. Pope Leo certainly is not fearful of technology. He has a passion for mathematics. He has a bachelor’s degree in mathematics... You are the Archbishop of New York, a city often seen as a center of power, business, technology, and innovation. What reaction are you seeing to this text, which also engages industry and calls for safeguarding humanity in the age of artificial intelligence?

I have heard and seen nothing but a sense of openness, acceptance, gratefulness, of receiving this encyclical from the Holy Father. Everyone is saying that there are so many things that we don9;t understand about AI. So let9;s start talking about it, and the fact that the Holy Father himself, and that the Catholic Church is in the center of this. Even people who aren9;t practicing faithful Catholics are engaged in this conversation. It is a very welcome and open conversation that9;s happening. And I think people want to ask those questions: Are we just going to let AI drive itself? Are we just going to let it be controlled by a few people only to be profit driven? Or can it be used for the good of the world, for the good of humanity?

I also like that in the encyclical that Pope Leo is really reflecting on what does it mean to be human. In a world that is growing with more sophistication in technology and in the ways that AI can act, I think there are some good questions being posed on what does it mean to be human? It9;s being embraced by everyone because at the end of the day, we9;re all human. We9;re all in this game together and I hope all of our hearts are united and we want to promote that human dignity for all. There are so many things contained in this beautifully dense text.

Which of Pope Leo’s concerns expressed in the text resonates most with you? What would you like to see people take away from it, even in your Archdiocese?

I think sometimes we want to reduce it to a couple of sound bites. Yet I think it9;s one of those documents, one of those encyclicals, that we should sit with, discern over, pray with, and talk about and reflect. To your question, what9;s something that really popped for me? I think that9;s [how he] connects in this world. He has a part there about how is AI going to affect the job market. I listened to our young adults, our young people, and this topic of AI is very, very much at the center of their concerns, of what they9;re thinking about, what they9;re worrying.

Young people are asking the question, am I studying for something right now, for a job, for a career that9;s not going to exist in the next decade or so because AI is going to take it over? There9;s a worry, there9;s a concern, and they9;re looking for some direction also. I think this encyclical gives us a very practical roadmap to even how to address some of those very practical issues that people of all ages are looking at.

Thinking of Pope Leo XIII’s Rerum novarum, which Pope Leo references repeatedly, do you truly believe that the digital revolution can be compared, in terms of the scale of its impact, to the Industrial Revolution?

You said it very well, and there9;s a direct correlation with Rerum novarum, that industrial revolution, changed the entire world. And when you think about how it changed the job market, people were concerned, are there going to be any human dignity in the work that we do, in the jobs that we have? Are we just going to be turned into profit driven slaves or robots? Those things needed to be addressed in the Industrial Revolution. Rerum novarum did exactly that.

I think this encyclical, for decades and generations to come is going to be used in a similar way. AI is here to stay. It9;s here to stay. It9;s going to change everything. I think we9;re going to ask some of the same questions. Is it only going to be profit driven, or is there going to be something that we look at for the good of humanity so that we9;re not just slaves and robots to profit? But how is it going to affect the common good? So your point is well taken. There9;s a direct correlation to Rerum novarum. And I think this particular encyclical by Pope Leo is going to be highly significant for so many generations to come.

Archbishop Hicks, Magnifica humanitas is a social encyclical. Is there any aspect of it that you believe is especially important for the Church9;s pastoral mission as well? We9;ve heard often that even during the presentation where Pope Leo presented the document himself that it9;s an encyclical not only on artificial intelligence, but it is on safeguarding the human person in the time of artificial intelligence. How is this important to the church9;s pastoral mission from your point of view?

Absolutely. You9;re so correct in saying that at the end of the day, the encyclical asks what does it mean to be human? And for the Catholic Church, we9;re obviously going to embrace that as part of our message and our mission. Jesus himself calls us to be fully human for Jesus who came, who was fully human and fully divine. And he wants us to share in that eternal life with him and have a reflection of of the life of Jesus in all of our lives. This encyclical is directly connected to that. How do we relate to each other? What does it mean to be human? How do we see the face of God in each other in creation, and see our brothers and sisters in each other9;s faces? Those are all things that are are connected to our humanity, which is part of the teaching of the Church and part of the mission of the Church. AI is going to affect all of that. So as Pope Leo connects the two together, I think it9;s timely, I think it9;s relevant, and we certainly need it. And it9;s going to be used for for such a long time.

Anything else you would like to add, Archbishop?

I just want to express my gratitude to the Holy Father for giving us in such an early stage of his pontificate, something like this, of substance and something that9;s relevant and needed. It9;s I9;m grateful for his leadership, and I look forward to where the conversations go and some of the decisions go because of it. He9;s helping to shape what the world looks like. And he9;s doing so within the context of Catholic social teaching and also the mission of the Church, which comes from Jesus Christ. I am really grateful to the Holy Father.

Deborah Castellano Lubov
Source: vaticannews.va/en