German Chancellor Chooses Pope’s AI Encyclical as Holiday Reading

Germany’s chancellor, identified in the report as Friedrich Merz, is spending his summer vacation reading Pope Leo XIV’s encyclical on artificial intelligence, Magnifica humanitas. The Vatican document, described as the first major papal text on safeguarding humanity from AI, urges “rigorous ethical constraints” and labels artificial intelligence as the greatest threat to humankind.

Merz, leader of the Christian Democratic Union, has repeatedly framed AI as both a challenge and an opportunity for Germany’s economy, calling for streamlined EU regulations to harness its productivity benefits while addressing public fears over job losses. His holiday reading signals an effort to align political debate with the moral considerations raised in the encyclical amid rising support for far‑right parties in the country.