Pope Leo XIV warns AI can weaken humanity on landmark France visit
Pope Leo XIV on Friday warned that a "paradise of machines" could weaken humanity as he began a four-day visit to France, raising broad questions about what it means to be human at a time of artificial intelligence, a nuclear arms race and other threats to life. Speaking at the Elysee Palace after arriving in Paris, Leo also reaffirmed the Vatican's opposition to nuclear weapons and called the doctrine of nuclear deterrence "mistaken".
His visit, the first by a pope to France in 18 years, has drawn strong public interest, with church bells ringing across the country as his flight landed at Orly airport and more than a million people expected to attend events during the trip. Later on Friday, Leo was scheduled to speak at UNESCO headquarters, attend vespers at the newly reopened Notre-Dame cathedral and lead a large youth vigil at the Paris stadium.
In his opening address to French President Emmanuel Macron and diplomats, Leo raised what he described as existential questions about scientific progress, life and human rights. Against the backdrop of wars in Europe and the Middle East, he repeated the Vatican's stand against nuclear weapons and said the pursuit of deterrence was only driving a fresh arms race. "Peace is not a balance of power; rather, it is built day by day through dialogue and justice," he said.
The trip also comes at a politically significant moment for Macron, who cannot seek a third term in the May elections. Pope Francis had repeatedly declined to make a full state visit to France during his 12-year papacy, making Leo's visit especially notable. "For a president of the republic as Macron, who is at the end of his mandate, it can be important to be alongside the pope and to capture a part of his popularity. It's not new," said Charles Mercier, director of history and sociology of Catholicism studies at Paris EPHE university.
With seven months left in office, Macron's approval ratings are close to record lows, amid public anger over the rising cost of living and criticism over France's growing debt and deficit and weakening public services. Macron's office said Friday's meeting with Leo would provide a chance to discuss global challenges such as climate change and artificial intelligence, as well as European and international affairs. The talks were also expected to cover end-of-life care and the protection of children.
Leo also appeared keen to stress Europe's Christian roots and underline the Church's position on the value and dignity of human life. The visit comes in a country where the right to abortion was written into the Constitution in 2024 and where lawmakers recently gave final approval to a bill allowing adults with incurable illnesses to receive lethal medication. France's Catholic hierarchy strongly opposed both measures, in line with Catholic teaching that human life must be protected from conception until natural death.
But the Catholic Church in France has lost much of its influence on ethical questions, amid wider secular trends in Western Europe and a crisis of credibility linked to the country's reckoning with clergy sexual abuse. France's model of secularism, or laicite, is written into the Constitution. It protects the freedom to believe or not believe, and the freedom to practise a religion as long as public order is not disturbed, while requiring the state to remain neutral towards all religions. Its main rules were set out in the 1905 law that was largely meant to reduce the influence of the then powerful Catholic Church.
Security for the visit was being organised on a scale similar to the Paris Olympics, with mounted police, bomb disposal teams, anti-drone measures and counter-terrorism arrangements in place, Paris police prefecture spokesperson Helene Denechere said. In Paris alone, 14,000 police officers, gendarmes and military personnel, along with 2,500 firefighters, were due to be deployed on Friday. The numbers for Saturday, when Leo is scheduled to celebrate Mass at Place de la Concorde, were only slightly lower. "We are implementing a system similar to what was in place during the Paris 2024 Olympic and Paralympic Games, which means a protective perimeter around which other security perimeters will be added," Denechere said.
Leo's France visit has combined major public events, diplomatic talks and a broader message on war, technology and the dignity of life, as he urged dialogue and justice over conflict and force.
