Pope Leo XIV’s first encyclical is expected to be signed and published soon, placing its release close to a date long associated with landmark papal social teaching documents.

According to reports from the German Catholic news agency KNA, it will be signed on May 15. The text will be the first major teaching document of his pontificate.

Circulating under the provisional title Magnifica humanitas, it is expected to address a range of issues, including artificial intelligence, international peace and what sources describe as a crisis in international law. Previous reports indicate that the document will set out the Pope’s initial response to these questions within the framework of Catholic social teaching.

The encyclical follows earlier indications that the Holy See had been preparing a document focused specifically on artificial intelligence. At the beginning of February, reports pointed to work under way on a text examining the ethical and anthropological implications of emerging technologies.

Pope Leo XIV has already spoken about the risks associated with technological development, warning of the dangers posed by “uncontrolled technology” and the importance of safeguarding human dignity.

According to the same reports, the encyclical will also address geopolitical instability and the perceived weakening of international legal structures. By doing this, the document is expected to set out the Vatican’s response to the principal challenges facing humanity in the 21st century.

The anticipated date of May 15 places the encyclical within a well-established tradition. On May 15, 1891, Pope Leo XIII issued Rerum Novarum, the foundational text of modern Catholic social doctrine, addressing the condition of workers during the industrial age.

The same date was chosen in 1931 by Pope Pius XI for Quadragesimo Anno, which developed the Church’s teaching on social order and introduced the principle of subsidiarity. Thirty years later, on May 15, 1961, Pope John XXIII promulgated Mater et Magistra, focusing on economic justice and social development.

The expected treatment of artificial intelligence would build on recent Vatican teaching. In January 2025, the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith and the Dicastery for Culture and Education issued Antiqua et Nova, a joint note on “the relationship between artificial intelligence and human intelligence”.

The document said AI could bring “important innovations” but warned that it also carried the danger of deepening inequality, manipulating public opinion and expanding “the instruments of war well beyond the scope of human oversight”. It added that artificial intelligence “should not be seen as an artificial form of human intelligence, but as a product of it”, and insisted that it “should be used only as a tool to complement human intelligence rather than replace its richness”.

No official text has yet been released, and the title Magnifica humanitas remains provisional.