AI and the Pope: A Case Study in Catholic Social Teaching

Marking the 135th anniversary of Rerum novarum, Pope Leo XIV released his first encyclical, entitled ‘Magnifica humanitas: On Safeguarding the Human Person in the Time of Artificial Intelligence.’

Join us for a special seminar and lunch on this important and timely issue.

The event will be hosted at Hillsdale College’s Washington DC campus at 227 Massachusetts Ave NE, Washington, DC 20002.

Fr. Michael Baggot is Associate Professor of Bioethics at the Pontifical Athenaeum Regina Apostolorum and teaches theology at the Pontifical University of St. Thomas Aquinas (the Angelicum). His research focuses on transhumanism, artificial intelligence, emerging technologies, natural theology, and Thomistic approaches to moral and spiritual formation. He has published widely in bioethics and technology ethics, edited Enhancement Fit for Humanity: Perspectives on Emerging Technologies (2022), and serves on several academic and advisory boards related to AI and human dignity. In addition to his scholarly work, he is a frequent media commentator and serves as a chaplain for Catholic educational and pilgrimage programs.

P. Bracy Bersnak is Associate Professor in the Department of Political Science and Economics at Christendom College, where he has taught since 2004. He holds a PhD in political theory from the Catholic University of America and specializes in natural law, Thomistic political thought, Catholic personalism, and philosophical conservatism. His work has appeared in The Catholic Social Science Review, Perspectives on Political Science, The Journal of Catholic Social Thought, and The American Spectator. In 2022, he delivered a lecture at the Las Casas Institute for Social Justice (Oxford) on the role of natural law in contemporary society. He lives in Front Royal, Virginia, with his two daughters.