Pope Leo XIV has warned of the risk of people losing their humanity as artificial intelligence becomes more prominent, delivering the message at the start of a four-day trip to France.
Speaking to Church and state representatives at the Élysée Palace after talks with President Emmanuel Macron, the Pope cautioned against “losing our humanity amid a paradise of machines”. His remarks addressed AI alongside wider questions about religion’s role in public life.
The Pope had previously raised concerns about the technology in a major teaching document issued earlier this year. In a May appeal, he said AI needed to be “disarmed” and referred to the slave trade while warning that exploitation of people could again become normalised.
Leo arrived at Orly airport on Friday, where he was received by Macron. The two were also expected to speak later in the day in Metz. The Pope’s programme includes a journey through crowds to Notre-Dame Cathedral and an evening event with 80,000 young people at the Stade de France.
A major Mass in Paris on Saturday is expected to be the central event of the visit. More than half a million people are expected, with an altar built at Place de la Concorde and a broad area surrounding the Champs-Élysées closed by police. Macron’s wife, Brigitte, Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu and several prospective candidates in next year’s presidential election are due to attend.
Macron will not attend the Pope’s Masses, reflecting France’s strict separation of state and religion. Leo said that “authentic secularity” should not shut religion out of public life or education. Macron said France’s secular model did not negate religion.
The visit will also take the Pope to Lourdes on Sunday, where 150,000 people have registered for Mass, and to Metz on Monday. In Metz, he is to pay tribute to Robert Schuman, a founding figure of the European Union and a committed Catholic who is a candidate for beatification.
Leo is also scheduled to meet migrants in Paris and survivors of sexual abuse by Catholic clergy in Lourdes. The trip comes as France remains largely secular, with fewer than 5% of the population described as regular worshippers, although adult baptisms more than doubled over five years to reach 10,000 in 2025.
Source: BBC News
