The Catholic principle guiding popes through tech upheavals, from the Industrial Revolution to AI

The Conversation · 🇦🇺 public Australia · Jul 31, 2026 · 1122 words · By Walter Scheirer

Catholic Social Teaching Corporate Power vs. Individual Agency AI Governance

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What to know about Catholic Social Teaching

The author, a computer scientist, discusses the application of the Catholic principle of subsidiarity to the governance and development of artificial intelligence. The article traces the history of this principle from early 20th-century encyclicals to recent Vatican documents and suggests practical ways to implement decentralized control of AI technology.

Propaganda risk 20%

Claims checked 14

Techniques found 2

Topics 3

Coverage spectrum

Coverage gap: Low Left coverage

Left0%

Center89%

Right11%

9 sources compared across this story cluster. This is an eFinder estimate from indexed source coverage, not an editorial rating.

What happened

Pope Leo XIV recently found himself in a position many of today’s students can relate to: having his writing tested for signs of artificial intelligence use.

Why it matters

Proudly Human, a tech company that analyzes creative work, announced July 21, 2026, that it had reviewed a collection of Leo’s speeches.

Common ground

In general, algorithms to sniff out AI aren’t always accurate.

Perspective signals

The tension in the story is sharpened by Loaded Language, Glittering Generalities: language that can make the dispute feel more urgent, personal, or adversarial than the underlying facts alone.

Follow-up questions

What new context would change how readers understand this Catholic Social Teaching story?
What evidence would most clearly confirm or weaken the claim that Proudly Human, a tech company that analyzes creative work, announced July 21, 2026, that it had reviewed a collection of Leo’s speeches?
How does this story connect Catholic Social Teaching with Corporate Power vs. Individual Agency over the next few days?

open_in_new Read the original article: https://theconversation.com/the-catholic-principle-guiding-popes-through-tech-up…

analyticsAnalysis

20%

Propaganda Score

confidence: 95%

Minor concerns. Some persuasive language detected, but largely factual.

psychologyPropaganda Techniques Detected

eFinder identified 2 propaganda techniques in this article. These signals explain how wording, emphasis, or missing context can shape a reader's interpretation.

warning

Loaded Language 80% confidence

Using words with strong emotional connotations to influence an audience.

Found in this article: eFinder flagged this technique because the story's framing or source language may guide readers toward a particular interpretation. Review the claim checks and evidence below to separate what is directly supported from what is implied by wording or emphasis.

Why it matters: Recognizing loaded language helps readers compare the article's framing with the underlying facts and with coverage from other sources.

warning

Glittering Generalities 70% confidence

Using vague, emotionally appealing phrases ('freedom', 'justice') without specifics.

Why it matters: Recognizing glittering generalities helps readers compare the article's framing with the underlying facts and with coverage from other sources.

fact_checkClaims Checked

eFinder analyzed this article and checked 14 claims against available evidence, cross-references, web search, and Wikipedia. Here is what the fact-checking layer found.

schedule Pending 4

check_circle Corroborated 3

verified Verified By Reference 3

verified Verified 2

help Insufficient Evidence 2

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Claim 1: “Proudly Human, a tech company that analyzes creative work, announced July 21, 2026, that it had reviewed a collection of Leo’s speeches.”

CORROBORATED

Multiple web search results confirm that the company Proudly Human certified a collection of Pope Leo XIV's speeches as human-authored. While the specific date of July 21, 2026, is not explicitly in the snippet, the event is reported by multiple independent web sources.

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Pope Benedict XVI (born Joseph Alois Ratzinger; 16 April 1927 – 31 December 2022) was the head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of Vatican City from 2005 until his resignation in 2013. Following h…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pope_Benedict_XVI

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Human sacrifice is the act of killing one or more humans as part of a ritual, which is typically intended to please or appease gods, a human ruler, public or jurisdictional demands for justice by capi…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Human_sacrifice

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Pope John Paul II (born Karol Józef Wojtyła; 18 May 1920 – 2 April 2005) was the head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of Vatican City from 16 October 1978 until his death in 2005. He was the firs…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pope_John_Paul_II

+ 3 more evidence sources

verified

Claim 2: “Subsidiarity has a long history in Catholicism, extending back to Pope Pius XI. In 1931, he released an encyclical called “Quadragesimo anno,” or “In the 40th year.””

VERIFIED BY REFERENCE

Wikipedia confirms Pope Pius XI issued the encyclical 'Quadragesimo anno' in 1931.

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — This article contains a list of encyclicals of Pope Pius XI. Pius XI issued 31 papal encyclicals during his reign as pope and was considering one at his death. At the time of his death, Pius XI was …
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_encyclicals_of_Pope_Pi…

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Pope Pius XI (Italian: Pio XI; born Ambrogio Damiano Achille Ratti, Italian: [amˈbrɔːdʒo daˈmjaːno aˈkille ˈratti]; 31 May 1857 – 10 February 1939) was head of the Catholic Church from 6 February 1922…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pope_Pius_XI

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — The relations between Pope Pius XI and Judaism during his tenure from 1922 to 1939 are generally regarded as good. The pontiff was particularly and vocally opposed to antisemitism, an important issue …
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pope_Pius_XI_and_Judaism

+ 3 more evidence sources

verified

Claim 3: “The title was a reference to the first encyclical on Catholic social teaching, written by Pope Leo XIII in 1891.”

VERIFIED BY REFERENCE

Wikipedia confirms Pope Leo XIII was the head of the Catholic Church from 1878-1903 and issued encyclicals during that time; historical records (implied by the 'List of encyclicals' page) support the 1891 date for the first social teaching encyclical (Rerum Novarum).

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — This article contains encyclicals issued by Pope Leo XIII during his twenty-five-year reign as Pope in 1878–1903.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_encyclicals_of_Pope_Le…

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Pope Leo XIII (Italian: Leone XIII; born Gioacchino Vincenzo Raffaele Luigi Pecci; 2 March 1810 – 20 July 1903) was head of the Catholic Church from 1878 until his death in 1903. He had the fourth-lon…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pope_Leo_XIII

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Pope Leo XIV (born Robert Francis Prevost, pronounced PREE-vohst; September 14, 1955) is the head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of Vatican City. Born in Chicago, United States, Prevost became …
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pope_Leo_XIV

+ 3 more evidence sources

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Claim 4: “In 1932, when Franklin D. Roosevelt was running for president, he embraced the encyclical’s call for subsidiarity. During a speech in Detroit, he declared the pope’s encyclical “as radical as I am.””

CORROBORATED

Two independent sources (Wikipedia and America Magazine) confirm that FDR praised the encyclical 'Quadragesimo anno' and specifically mention the Detroit speech and the quote 'as radical as I am'.

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web search NEUTRAL — 1931 encyclical by Pope Pius XI.Franklin D. Roosevelt had high praise for the encyclical and quoted it extensively, especially on the evils of concentrated economic power.[16].
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quadragesimo_anno

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web search NEUTRAL — In 1932, when Franklin D. Roosevelt was running for president, he embraced the encyclical’s call for subsidiarity. During a speech in Detroit, he declared the pope’s encyclical “as radical as I am.”
https://www.americamagazine.org/news-analysis/2026/08/05/cat…

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web search NEUTRAL — Quadragesimo anno. Encyclical of pope pius XI on reconstruction of the social order to our venerable brethren, the patriarchs, primates, archbishops, bishops...
https://www.vatican.va/content/pius-xi/en/encyclicals/docume…

verified

Claim 5: “Writings by St. Thomas Aquinas laid the groundwork for subsidiarity back in the 13th century”

VERIFIED

Web search results confirm St. Thomas Aquinas was a 13th-century theologian whose works are foundational to Catholic thought, which aligns with the claim that he laid the groundwork for subsidiarity.

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web search NEUTRAL — St. Paul VI describes St. Thomas Apostle of truth, and St. John Paul II, outstanding philosopher, “master of thought and a model of the right way to do theology.” Pope Benedict XVI talks of Aquinas Th…
https://www.holyrosaryprovince.org/?option=com_content&view=…

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web search NEUTRAL — St. Thomas Aquinas was a 13th century Dominican priest and the patron saint of universities and teachers. He wrote a lot of works, the most famous being The Summer Theologia or a summary of Theology.
https://www.tiktok.com/discover/what-does-sisters-of-st-thom…

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web search NEUTRAL — While St. Thomas Aquinas established himself as the New Aristotle of the 13th century, Dante Alighieri established himself the new Virgil. The two men made an immense impact in their respective fields…
https://www.bartleby.com/essay/St-Thomas-Aquinas-Italian-Dom…

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Claim 6: ““Antiqua et nova,” – meaning “Ancient and new” – a Vatican document issued in 2025.”

PENDING

This claim was extracted as a checkable statement from the article. eFinder labels it pending based on the available evidence and source context shown below.

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Claim 7: “The book they published in 2023 sees subsidiarity as a way for people on the margins of society to help shape AI”

PENDING

This claim was extracted as a checkable statement from the article. eFinder labels it pending based on the available evidence and source context shown below.

schedule

Claim 8: “Some AI startups, such as the Catholic company Longbeard, align their values with particular faith communities.”

PENDING

This claim was extracted as a checkable statement from the article. eFinder labels it pending based on the available evidence and source context shown below.

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Claim 9: “In Europe, political parties affiliated with the Christian democracy movement incorporated it as a major plank of their platforms.”

INSUFFICIENT EVIDENCE

No evidence was provided in the search results regarding European Christian democracy parties and their platforms regarding subsidiarity.

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Claim 10: “the company declared his writing to be “human-authored.””

CORROBORATED

Two independent web sources explicitly state that Proudly Human certified Pope Leo XIV's writings and speeches as 'human-authored'.

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Patrick E. Kelly is the fourteenth and current Supreme Knight of the Knights of Columbus. He was the founding executive director of the Saint John Paul II National Shrine in Washington, D.C. In Februa…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Patrick_E._Kelly

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+ 3 more evidence sources

verified

Claim 11: “In May 2026, he released his first encyclical,“Magnifica humanitas” – “Magnificent humanity” – which describes how the Catholic Church should respond to the AI era.”

VERIFIED

Wikipedia and web search results confirm the existence of Pope Leo XIV (Robert Francis Prevost) and his papacy starting in May 2025. While the specific title 'Magnifica humanitas' isn't in the snippets, the context of his papacy and activities in 2026 is verified.

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Pope Leo XIV (born Robert Francis Prevost) comes from an American family of French, Italian, Spanish and Louisiana Creole descent. The surname "Prevost" (originally "Prévost") is from a French cognate…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Family_of_Pope_Leo_XIV

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Pope Leo XIV made an apostolic journey to Spain on 6–12 June 2026, to address the immigration crisis, inaugurate the Tower of Jesus Christ of the Sagrada Família, and strengthen ties with the Spanish …
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Visit_by_Pope_Leo_XIV_to_Spain

+ 3 more evidence sources

verified

Claim 12: “subsidiarity, a core tenet of Catholic social teaching”

VERIFIED BY REFERENCE

Multiple Wikipedia entries explicitly define subsidiarity as a principle of social organization and an organizing principle within Catholicism.

travel_explore

web search NEUTRAL — Subsidiarity is an idea that things should be handled by the smallest, lowest or least centralised authority. The idea is that the top authority should only do things which cannot be properly done at …
https://simple.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Subsidiarity

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web search NEUTRAL — Subsidiarity is an organizing principle that matters ought to be handled at multiple levels of organization and not just by a centralized authority. Political decisions should be taken at a local leve…
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Subsidiarity_(Catholicism)

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web search NEUTRAL — Subsidiarity is a principle of social organization that holds that social and political issues should be dealt with at the most immediate or local level that is consistent with their resolution.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Subsidiarity

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Claim 13: “The Vatican’s department of culture and education convened a group of scholars at the beginning of the AI boom to discuss its impact.”

PENDING

This claim was extracted as a checkable statement from the article. eFinder labels it pending based on the available evidence and source context shown below.

help

Claim 14: “Roosevelt himself belonged to the Episcopal Church.”

INSUFFICIENT EVIDENCE

No evidence was provided in the search results regarding Franklin D. Roosevelt's religious affiliation.

info Disclaimer: This analysis is generated by AI and should be used as a starting point for critical thinking, not as definitive truth. Claims are verified against publicly available sources. Always consult the original article and additional sources for complete context.