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Pope Leo XIV

HE WROTE AN ENCYCLICAL TELLING HUMANITY TO DISARM AI.

FILE UPDATED Oct 5, 2026

WHY THEY MATTER

Robert Francis Prevost was born in Chicago in 1955, spent decades as an Augustinian missionary in Peru, and became the first American-born pope in 2025.

SOURCES: WikipediaDetroit Catholic (CNS)Catholic Review (CNS)Brussels Signal

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ZIMBO'S READ ON Pope Leo XIV

A giant rubber stamp marked DISARM AI crushes a war missile; behind it towers a document labeled ENCYCLICAL bearing a papal-keys emblem, while war robots in the background lay down their weapons. No person depicted.

DISARM. STAMPED.

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THE POPE WHO DECLARED WAR ON UNCHECKED AI

Robert Francis Prevost was born in Chicago in 1955, spent decades as an Augustinian missionary in Peru, and became the first American-born pope in 2025. He took the name Leo XIV as a direct answer to artificial intelligence — then made it the subject of his first encyclical, Magnifica Humanitas, calling on the world to disarm AI before it disarms humanity.

  1. Sep 14, 1955

    BORN IN CHICAGO

    Robert Francis Prevost is born in Chicago on September 14, 1955. Seven decades later he becomes the first pope born in the United States — and the first from the Order of Saint Augustine.

    SOURCES: Wikipediareported

  2. 1982

    ORDAINED AN AUGUSTINIAN PRIEST

    Prevost becomes a friar in the Order of Saint Augustine in 1977 and is ordained a priest in 1982, then spends the 1980s and 1990s doing missionary work in Peru as a parish pastor, seminary teacher, and administrator.

    SOURCES: Wikipediareported

  3. 2014

    FRANCIS SENDS HIM TO CHICLAYO

    Pope Francis appoints Prevost apostolic administrator of Chiclayo, Peru, in 2014; he serves as Bishop of Chiclayo from 2015 to 2023 and becomes a Peruvian citizen.

    SOURCES: Wikipediareported

  4. 2023

    CARDINAL AND CHIEF BISHOP-PICKER

    Francis brings Prevost to Rome as prefect of the Dicastery for Bishops — the Vatican office that selects bishops worldwide — and makes him a cardinal in 2023.

    SOURCES: Wikipediareported

  5. May 8, 2025

    ELECTED POPE, NAMES HIMSELF AFTER THE AI PROBLEM

    Elected the 267th pope on May 8, 2025, Prevost takes the name Leo XIV in homage to Leo XIII — saying the Church must renew its social teaching to face "today's new industrial revolution and the developments of artificial intelligence" and their challenges to "human dignity, justice and labor."

    SOURCES: Detroit Catholic (CNS)reported

  6. May 25, 2026

    THE AI ENCYCLICAL: DISARM THE MACHINES

    Leo presents his first encyclical, Magnifica Humanitas ("Magnificent Humanity") — signed May 15, 2026, on the 135th anniversary of Leo XIII's Rerum Novarum. Across five chapters and some 42,300 words he declares "artificial intelligence needs to be disarmed," urges the faithful to "fast from AI," and rules that "no algorithm can make war morally acceptable." Anthropic co-founder Chris Olah shares the Vatican stage for the unveiling.

    SOURCES: Catholic Review (CNS)reportedBrussels Signalreported

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