The city still bears its old nickname, “Queen City,” and the bones of its former greatness are still visible.

What does it mean to safeguard our humanity? That question is at the heart of Pope Leo XIV’s much anticipated first encyclical, “Magnifica Humanitas: On Safeguarding the Human Person in the Time of Artificial Intelligence,” released May 25. The following are some key things to know about this weighty papal letter.

Pope Leo XIV called for vigilance as he spoke at the Vatican press conference May 25 to present his first encyclical on artificial intelligence, saying his conversations with industry leaders — including “very troubling voices” who warned of autonomous weapons systems beyond effective human governance — had led him to the conviction that AI “needs to be disarmed.”

Just as it did in the industrial age, the Catholic Church is called to discern the rapidly evolving advances of digital technology in the light of the Gospel, said Cardinal Pietro Parolin, Vatican secretary of state.

Here are 10 quotes that provide a glimpse into what the encyclical contains: