What Makes Us Human? A Reflection on Pope Leo's Encyclical
A Meditation by Rev. Cameron Trimble
“What does it profit them if they gain the whole world, but lose themselves?” — Luke 9:25
Yesterday, Pope Leo XIV published his first major encyclical focused on artificial intelligence, titled Magnifica Humanitas.1
For centuries, encyclicals have responded to the major moral challenges of their eras, such as war, industrialization, labor exploitation, colonialism, and ecological destruction. Now, the Catholic Church is making it clear that artificial intelligence is part of that discussion as well.
After reading the document, I was not left with fear of technology. The encyclical is thoughtful and balanced. Pope Leo acknowledges the remarkable opportunities AI could bring to medicine, education, research, accessibility, and communication. Still, the document expresses a deeper worry about the kind of civilization we are creating and the people we are becoming within it.
At one point, the Pope warns that having access to information is not the same as having wisdom. That idea stuck with me because it describes something many of us sense. We have more information than any society before us, but less wisdom to know how to apply it. We know more but understand less. We talk all the time but still find it hard to connect. We take in endless content but still feel spiritually empty.
The real crisis is not about technology. It is about us as people. AI is coming into a world already shaped by loneliness, environmental collapse, political extremes, economic inequality, and general exhaustion. We are bringing these systems into a culture where many people already feel distracted, isolated, overwhelmed, and disconnected from meaning.
Technology always reflects and strengthens the values of the society that uses it. A healthy culture can use technology to support learning, healing, creativity, and care. But if a culture is focused on taking, speed, profit, surveillance, and power, its technology will show those values too.
I think many people already feel that something important is changing in us, both mentally and spiritually. Our attention spans are getting shorter. Silence is harder to handle. People find it difficult to stay present long enough to pray, read deeply, or keep strong relationships. Young people are growing up in systems built to profit from distraction and control attention.
Now, AI can take part in activities that once seemed unique to humans. It can write, create images and music, sum up research, mimic emotional closeness, and even act as an intellectual companion. Some people see AI as a new kind of partner that could help us tackle big problems like disease, climate change, scientific discovery, accessibility, and preventing conflict. I believe those possibilities are real.
That is what makes this moment so morally complicated. Every powerful technology shows the true character of the society that uses it. Nuclear fission can either power cities or destroy them. Fire can warm a home or burn it down. AI will probably strengthen whatever values are already at the heart of our society. Right now, I am not sure we have the moral maturity needed to use this kind of power wisely. That might be the main worry behind Pope Leo’s encyclical.
In Genesis, people are made from dust and breath. This image is grounded, connected, vulnerable, and dependent. In the Christian tradition, wisdom has never just meant collecting information. The Desert Fathers chose silence because they knew noise could harm the soul. Thomas Merton warned years ago that modern people risk becoming so distracted by the outside world that they lose touch with their inner life.
Pope Leo seems to be asking a similar question today. Can a society built on speed, automation, and efficiency still see the sacredness of each person? Modern life often teaches people to see themselves like machines. Many now think of themselves as brands, productivity systems, audiences, consumers, or just streams of content. Human value quietly becomes linked to output, visibility, performance, and usefulness.
But the most important parts of being human do not follow the rules of efficiency. Love grows slowly. Grief takes its own time. Wisdom develops over time. Friendship cannot be made more efficient. Moral courage cannot be turned into a process.
Maybe that is why the encyclical moved me so much. In a world that is more and more fascinated by artificial intelligence, someone finally spoke up to say that humanity is still sacred. We are fragile, full of contradictions, able to be violent and gentle at once, and still deserve dignity beyond what we can produce or achieve.
I believe many people need to hear this message today.
We live in a culture that is always trying to turn people into something that can be measured and sold. But you are more than something to be optimized. You are a living soul, shaped by your memories, relationships, struggles, hopes, wonder, and love. Protecting this truth may become one of the most important spiritual duties of our time.
We are in this together,
Cameron
Reflection Questions
In what ways do you feel pressure to become more efficient rather than more fully human?
Where do you notice technology deepening connection in your life, and where does it diminish it?
What practices help you remember your own sacredness beyond productivity or performance?
A Prayer for the Day
A Prayer For Our Humanity
God, we are surrounded by machines that speak, predict, calculate, imitate, persuade, and optimize. Sometimes we marvel at them. Sometimes we fear them. Sometimes we barely notice how deeply they shape us. Teach us not to lose ourselves. Protect the tender and human things within us: our capacity for wonder, our ability to listen, our courage to love, our grief, our creativity, our moral imagination. Keep us from organizing life entirely around speed, profit, efficiency, and control. Remind us that wisdom grows slowly. That relationships cannot be automated. That dignity cannot be quantified. That souls cannot be engineered. And as the world changes around us, help us remain unmistakably human. Amen.
Spiritual Practice
Recovering the Human
Today, intentionally do one thing inefficiently.
Write a handwritten note.
Cook slowly.
Sit with someone without checking your phone.
Read poetry aloud.
Take a walk without listening to anything.
Pray without multitasking.
Have a conversation that is not optimized for productivity.
Notice how uncomfortable slowness may initially feel. Then notice what begins returning to you underneath the noise.
The wisdom traditions remind us that human beings are not machines designed merely for output. We are creatures made for relationship, meaning, beauty, and love. Protect that part of yourself carefully.
Upcoming Events That Might Be of Interest…
My team and I launched a new experiment we are calling “The Commons.” It’s an online space centered around communities of practice: groups of people who share a common concern, set of problems, or passion for a topic, and deepen their knowledge and expertise by interacting on an ongoing basis. Join the community here.
May 27, 2026, 12pm ET - FREE WEBINAR - I will be hosting an online experience titled “Reclaiming the Power of Imagination: A live experiential webinar with Jackie Sussman." Jackie, a psychotherapist, author, and leading expert in Eidetic Image Psychology, has spent over forty years helping leaders and individuals unlock creativity, uncover hidden strengths, and move through limiting patterns. During this session, she will lead a live Eidetic process shaped by mythic imagery, offering a direct experience of the work. REGISTER HERE.
June 2, 2026, 12:30-1:30pmET - Book Club in The Commons - FREE - We are starting our next book, The Glorians by Terry Tempest Williams. We will meet each Tuesday for 6 weeks. It’s such great fun. I hope you will be a part. All are welcome! RSVP HERE.
September 8, 2026, 7-9pm ET, ONLINE EVENT - I’ll be hosting a powerful online gathering on The Black Madonna: Sacred Wisdom for a World in Crisis with Matthew Fox, Alessandra Belloni, and Christena Cleveland. We will explore the Black Madonna as a symbol of resilience, liberation, sacred feminine wisdom, and healing in a fractured world through conversation, story, music, and spiritual reflection. If you feel drawn toward a deeper encounter with the Divine Feminine and the ancient traditions that continue to nourish movements for justice and wholeness, I hope you’ll join us. Learn more and REGISTER HERE.
October 18-21, 2026 - PREACH! 2026 Conference- I’ll be co-hosting PREACH in Minneapolis with Church Anew, a new gathering for preachers, storytellers, worship leaders, and spiritual communicators navigating what it means to speak with clarity, compassion, and courage in a changing world. If you’ve sensed that the preaching moment has changed and are longing for thoughtful community and renewed imagination for this work, I hope you’ll join us.
I drafted a Strategic Framework for Congregations as we move into the coming years of increased authoritarianism around the world. If interested, you can download it here.
Fun Things My Friends Are Up To…
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JULY 12, 2026, 8AM–8PM ET in NYC - My friend Monika Son is helping lead a powerful Buddhist-led, interfaith pilgrimage across New York City titled “Day of Remembering Our Interdependence.” Inspired by the Buddhist monks’ 2,300-mile Walk for Peace and grounded in the wisdom of Thich Nhat Hanh, participants will gather for walking meditation, prayer, chanting, ceremony, and collective reflection across all five boroughs, including stops at the African Burial Ground and the Metropolitan Detention Center where ICE detainees are being held. The day will culminate in a joyful community gathering in Queens with music, poetry, movement, and food. Participants are welcome to join for the full pilgrimage or any portion of the day. LEARN MORE HERE.
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Thank you, Rev. Cameron...
I like what you say about silence. So, so necessary. I don't always like using the word "mandatory," but wouldn't be interesting to see what would happen if our schools made one hour of silence a day mandatory. The students could read, write, draw, walk, dream, or just look out the window -- but all in silence -- no plugging in -- just 60 minutes of quiet.
Thank you for summarizing the essence of this encyclical. I have done a lot of reading about AI, used it sparingly and served on panels or webinar discussions for its use in educational settings but the idea of technology as a reflection of our moral selves is a concept I have been trying to pin down. Having taught in K-12 and higher education most of my life I have seen a real shift in learning, even before the invention of AI, towards productivity for the purpose of profit. The heart of democracy, as well as Christian faith, should be the discerning of truth and the serving of others for the benefits gleaned from this truth. A “liberal” education can help in the development of wisdom necessary in handling information for a positive societal outcome. It gives context to what is otherwise a jumble of thoughts and facts. I pray and hope that we will come to our senses and realize that important part … we are here for each other not ourselves.