by Fr John Ikundu MCCJ
1. The image of the human person
The encyclical Magnifica Humanitas reaffirms the image of the human person as a creature intimately related to God and to others. The pope emphasizes that the true greatness of the human being does not lie in technological self-sufficiency, but in the ability to accept one’s own finiteness as a place of spiritual growth (n. 118).
The human person is called not to be closed within the confines of his nature, but to transcend himself. This transcendent dimension is fully realized only in openness to divine grace. We become fully human when we allow God to lead us beyond ourselves (n. 127-128). Human identity is therefore not static, but a dynamic reality of growth in the relationship with the divine mystery.
The encyclical strongly emphasizes the qualitative difference between artificial intelligence (AI) and human intelligence. AI does not possess a body, nor does it pass through joy or mature in relationship. It is mere technological systems without experience! Only the human person is capable of knowing the meaning of love, work, friendship and responsibility (n. 99). This fundamental distinction places the human person above any digital technology.
The human person is to be seen through the eyes of God, who has taken on our weakness and transforms it into a place of salvation. Even when machines excel in efficiency, the human person has always to remain at the centre of all our commitments (n. 126).
2. The missionary choices in favour of the human person
In the context of digital transformation, the mission in favour of the human person requires first of all an educational commitment aimed at forming consciences and developing a critical spirit in the use of new technologies. There is need for digital literacy to help discern the positive and negative effects of artificial intelligence. This educational commitment concerns above all the forming of minds capable of autonomous and responsible judgment (n.14).
On the social and political level, there is an imperative urgency to promote participatory governance of artificial intelligence that involves local communities, national institutions and civil society organizations. The principle of subsidiarity, the cornerstone of the Social Doctrine of the Church, requires that decisions on AI are made in choral harmony (n. 9, 153). The Pope reminds us that AI technology is not neutral, because it takes on the face of those who conceive, finance and regulate it (n. 9). This is a field which requires transparent democratic control.
The safeguarding of human dignity in the world of work is a priority area of missionary action. It is therefore necessary to defend decent work, oppose new forms of digital slavery and ensure that the benefits of innovation are fairly distributed, preventing technological monopolies from increasing the power of the few at the expense of the many. The encyclical denounces that the world’s wealth has grown in absolute terms, but the concentration in few hands has accentuated widened imbalances. (n. 161). In this field, we dearly need prophetic missionaries voices!
Finally, mission requires protecting authentic human relationships from technological colonization. The encyclical warns against the risk of artificial relationships without any real affection. Authentic relationships, based on bodily presence, listening and gratuitous love, constitutes an indispensable form of missionary witness in the present time (n.100).
3. The missionary Message in favour of the human person
The word to be proclaimed today is first and foremost a word of hope founded on the transcendent dignity of the human person. There is an urgent need of the Christian proclamation that the human person is not a mistake to be rectified through artificial intelligence. The human person remains the irreplaceable centre of history and creation (n. 229-245).
There must be a prophetic denunciation of the new forms of technological idolatry. Technology cannot becomes the criterion by which everything is judged, reducing the human being to a mere component in a system oriented towards ever greater efficiency. The Christian message today unmasks this dynamic and reaffirms that no algorithm can make war morally acceptable. There can be no technical legitimization of violence where the decision on life and death is left to technology. Decisions without ethics! (n. 182).
There is need for a repeated invitation to conversion and responsibility, an invitation to acknowledge that injustices do not arise only from the wrong choices of individuals, but also from structures, mechanisms, economic and cultural systems that produce inequality and new precariousness (n. 151). Proclaiming the Gospel today means calling for the transformation of these structures, promoting a civilization of love that is built through small and tenacious acts of fidelity capable of stopping dehumanization (n. 38, 186-188).
Finally, the message to be proclaimed is of Easter hope that embraces fragility and limitation as places of salvation. For us, human weakness is not a defect to be corrected with AI, but the place where God’s power is manifested and where the human person reaches his true fullness in communion with the mystery of the Incarnation (n.12, 118-122).
Each of us has a role to play today! “Some events help us to see that history can change when even just one man or one woman takes the dignity of all seriously…” (n.124)
Conclusion
Magnifica Humanitas offers the Church and the whole of humanity a compass to navigate the anthropological challenges of the digital age. The spiritual image of the human person that emerges from the encyclical is that of a being related, limited and called to transcendence, whose dignity does not depend on technological abilities but on being created in the image of God and redeemed in Christ. The missionary choices concern education in discernment, the participatory governance of technology, the protection of dignified work and the safeguarding of authentic relationships. The word to be proclaimed is a message of hope that denounces technological idolatry, invites the conversion of unjust structures and proclaims that human frailty is the privileged place of encounter with divine grace. In this time of rapid change, the Church is called to be a prophetic voice and credible witness of the “magnificent humanity” that God continues to guard and make fruitful.
