Brussels says the pope\u02bcs encyclical Magnifica Humanitas echoes values already written into Europe\u02bcs tech laws, even as Parliament moves to ease parts of the AI Act.<\/p>\n
The European Commission has told EWTN News that Pope Leo XIV\u2019s call for AI to serve human dignity and the common good reflects principles already embedded in the EU\u2019s approach to regulating technology, as lawmakers voted on Tuesday to postpone certain obligations under the bloc\u2019s landmark AI Act.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe could not agree more with the vision of His Holiness Pope Leo XIV and with the need for a robust legal framework for AI,\u201d Thomas Regnier, European Commission spokesperson for tech sovereignty, security, and democracy, told EWTN News following a recent Commission dialogue bringing together EU officials, Church leaders, and experts to discuss AI\u2019s ethical and social impact.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn the EU, this is not just an aspiration. It is already what we are doing through the AI Act, the Digital Services Act, the Digital Markets Act, the GDPR and much more,\u201d Regnier said.<\/p>\n
From\u00a0Magnifica Humanitas\u00a0to Brussels<\/p>\n
The closed dialogue followed Pope Leo XIV\u2019s encyclical\u00a0Magnifica Humanitas<\/a>, published May 25, and offered an early opportunity to gauge whether its themes are resonating with those implementing Europe\u2019s AI rulebook. The discussions included senior officials from the EU\u2019s AI Office, which oversees implementation of the Act.<\/p>\n The encyclical sets out Pope Leo\u2019s vision for safeguarding human dignity, human agency, and the common good amid rapidly advancing technologies. Its\u00a0presentation at the Vatican last month<\/a>\u00a0included Christopher Olah, co-founder of Anthropic, as the Holy See seeks to engage directly with frontier AI developers.<\/p>\n Responding to questions from EWTN News, Regnier said Pope Leo\u2019s concerns closely align with existing European policies.<\/p>\n \u201cWhat the Pope describes is what Europe is already doing,\u201d Regnier said.<\/p>\n \u201cWe are protecting minors online. We have banned AI systems that exploit the most vulnerable. We are protecting women and children from non-consensual and sexual-abuse AI-generated content. We have prohibited social scoring.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cHis Holiness speaks of human dignity and the common good. These are exactly the European values.\u201d<\/p>\n Parliament pauses high-risk AI requirements<\/p>\n Regnier\u2019s comments come as the European Parliament\u00a0approved amendments on Tuesday<\/a>\u00a0postponing certain obligations affecting high-risk AI systems under the Act, including systems used in health care, education, employment, and law enforcement, a move supporters say will provide legal certainty while harmonized standards are developed.<\/p>\n Irish MEP Michael McNamara, one of Parliament\u2019s lead negotiators on the legislation, defended the postponement, arguing businesses need regulatory certainty without weakening the Act\u2019s core safeguards.<\/p>\n \u201cWe live in an area of rule of law, and one of the things that is most important is regulatory certainty and clarity in what one\u2019s legal obligations are,\u201d McNamara said following Tuesday\u2019s vote.<\/p>\n He said it was regrettable that implementation had to be delayed because harmonized standards had not yet been developed, but stressed that \u201cthe protections, the fundamental rights protections, the requirement that you have human beings in the loop, that you have a human override, these all remain in place.\u201d<\/p>\n