By Dean Dettloff, Research and Advocacy Officer
On Monday, May 25, Pope Leo XIV released his first encyclical, Magnifica Humanitas, or “Magnificent Humanity.” While the encyclical is earning headlines for its discussion of AI, a central theme of the document, the pope also provides a wide-ranging look at the history of Catholic Social Teaching, the importance of peace, and the need for international development in a moment of global instability. At its core, Pope Leo is inviting all people to remember, celebrate, defend and develop the gifts of human life, even as our world is mediated more and more by screens.
As a movement for international solidarity, Development and Peace ― Caritas Canada (DPCC) is eager to discern how to make this encyclical come alive in our own mission. Here are four sections of Magnifica Humanitas that are especially relevant to our lives and work here in Canada.
The material costs of the digital age
173. Nothing in the world of AI is immaterial or magical. Every seemingly immediate and flawless response is the result of a long chain of mediation, involving vast networks of natural resources, energy infrastructure and, above all, people. A significant part of the digital economy’s functioning relies on the silent work of millions of people engaged in essential yet largely unseen activities, such as data labeling, model training and content moderation, often involving disturbing material. In many cases, these workers are young people, predominantly women, working under demanding conditions for minimal wages. Added to this invisible labor is the even harsher work of extracting the resources required for the production of the devices and microprocessors on which AI depends. In some regions of the world, children and adolescents work in dangerous conditions, crushing the materials from which rare earth elements are extracted… If technology promises emancipation, yet produces new forms of global subordination, it stands in contradiction to the fundamental principle of human dignity.
When we use an AI technology, like ChatGPT, Claude, or Copilot, we might marvel at the speed of an AI’s response, or its ability to mimic human behavior, but we rarely consider the material infrastructure and human labour required to enable AI. Behind every response to a prompt or generated image, there is a significant cost in terms of energy, land and water use. As chatbots access mountains of appropriated data to form responses to users, they also require real human inputs to sort and review that data, often exposing workers, many of whom live in the Global South, to troubling images and text for little pay. Motivated by Catholic Social Teaching, Pope Leo encourages us to develop a deeper sensitivity to the material costs of what appears to the end user as an abstract virtual interaction. Developing such a sensitivity is especially essential, and difficult, as digital tools promise convenience.
In Canada, this sensitivity should motivate important questions about our own political and economic direction. The rapid drive to build and power data centres for AI and other purposes is quickly transforming communities and land around the world. In our own country, the Canadian government is incentivizing significant investment in data centres, even those powered by fossil fuels, serving to deepen the climate crisis.
Canada is also home to a significant portion of the world’s extractive industries. Canadian mining industries are often the source of severe human rights violations and environmental destruction in places like the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Honduras, and Brazil, facing little to no consequences.
For many years, DPCC members have called for stronger regulations on Canadian companies acting abroad, as well as a path for affected communities to seek justice in Canadian courts. Without a stronger regulatory framework, the growing demand for so-called “critical minerals” essential to AI technologies will also mean more opportunities for abuse.
Calling our attention to the magnificence of humanity, Pope Leo urges us not to despair, but to contribute to building a world where all people are guaranteed the right to a dignified life. As companies continue to pressure governments and individuals to invest in AI, we Canadians must join our lives and actions with those standing up for the rights of the people and the planet affected by this new industry.
The growth of the military-industrial complex
193. The growth of the military-industrial complex has become a defining feature of the current political landscape and has become a key sector in the economy of various countries. The close link between economic interests, the military apparatus and political decisions produces an “armed nation,” in which war appears as a natural extension of politics, and the arms market becomes an autonomous driving force behind military decisions. Nor can we ignore the enormous economic interests behind war. The armaments industry, and countries that supply weapons, profit from a market that thrives precisely on conflicts. In this sense, there are also financial interests that contribute to fueling tensions in various regions of the world.
Today, there is more conflict in the world than at any time since the Second World War. Wars can only be fought with arms and war supplies, and the industries that make them have reported record profits. Like Pope Francis, Pope Leo has expressed significant concern over not only the increase in war, but also the growth of industries that profit from war.
The Government of Canada has pledged to increase its military spending up to 5 per cent of its gross domestic product by 2035, a sum that Prime Minister Mark Carney said could reach as much as $150 billion per year. By aggressively growing the Canadian defence industry, Canada is also tying its economic prosperity to an industry that, as Pope Leo puts it, “thrives precisely on conflicts.” Such an investment casts doubt on Canada’s commitments to reducing conflict.
Meanwhile, Canada has cut public spending across a variety of sectors, including $2.7 billion from spending on official development assistance, especially on global health. Trends in Canada’s national budget are concerning when we pause to consider the growing needs around the word. Investing in structures that can meet these needs is necessary in order for us to recognize and celebrate the magnificence of humanity. Canadians ought to respond to Pope Leo’s message by making it clear to our elected representatives that we want our country to invest in peace, not war, thus tying our future to mutual cooperation with others.
The duty and right of development
83. For individuals as well as for nations, development is both a duty and a right. Minimum conditions are required for enabling every person and people to flourish in accord with their dignity, without being kept in a state of dependence or excluded from access to necessary goods. Development is truly human when it places people at the center instead of the accumulation of wealth, and when it concerns peoples as well as individuals.… Development is not truly human if it increases consumption for some while shifting costs and burdens onto others, or relegates entire regions to subordinate roles, preventing them from realizing their full potential. Development is integral when it is not limited to the economic sphere, but promotes quality of life in its spiritual, cultural, moral and relational dimensions, while respecting our common home, the diversity of peoples and their ways of life.
In our global economic system, countries do not enjoy the same freedom to develop on their own terms. Due to factors like centuries of colonialism, unfair trade agreements, and, in many cases, unpayable national debts, the economies of many countries in the Global South are made subordinate to the needs and desires of economies in the Global North. To satisfy consumer demands in the Global North, people work in harsh, even fatal, conditions. True development would mean people being free to imagine and build the kinds of societies they want, without the pressures of international profit-seeking.
In a country like Canada, our way of life is based in significant ways on the exploitation of people and the planet. Whether by buying fast-fashion clothes, tropical fruits out of season, or a new laptop or cell phone, our global economy integrates us into complex supply chains that often rely on violence. Canadians can help change this situation by advocating for Canada to increase its funding for long-term development, invested in grassroots communities, enabling people to pursue their own paths to a more sustainable world.
We can all do our part
212. At this point, however, a subtle temptation may emerge, namely the thought that the problems are too big and we are too small, and that our choices, therefore, cannot make a difference. This is a polite form of resignation, often disguised as realism. Certainly, not everyone has the same power to make a difference. There are those who govern, make investment decisions, lead institutions, conduct research, educate, produce or provide information, and then there are those who only seem to live their daily lives. Yet, no one is without responsibility. We all have our own areas for action, and it is precisely there — and nowhere else — that we must choose whether to fuel the mentality of force (even if only through indifference, cynicism, lies or hatred), or to preserve the mindset of peace (with truth, moderation, closeness and care).
Reviewing the state of our world and the challenges of pursuing justice, it can be easy to become overwhelmed and give up. Faced with the complexities of our global situation, we might even be tempted to conclude that even a country like Canada is unable to forge a path for peace. Maybe, we might think, Canada needs to spend less internationally because of the pressures it faces domestically, or maybe Canada should prioritize military spending based on new uncertainties and threats. Yet, Pope Leo encourages us to be people of faith and to meet our moment with an ambition for peace, knowing that we are all capable of our own action.
By working together for international solidarity, members of DPCC can join their individual action to collective action, both across Canada and with our partners abroad. As Magnifica Humanitas demonstrates, Catholic Social Teaching gives us powerful tools to realistically understand the truth of our world and also to meet that truth with faith, hope, and love.
Together, we can celebrate the magnificence of humanity, a gift of God that can never be erased.