Pope Leo XIV opens France visit warning of AI and nuclear risks

First papal state visit to France in 18 years draws large crowds

Pope Leo XIV arrived in France on Friday for the first official papal state visit to the country in 18 years, opening a four-day trip with warnings on artificial intelligence and nuclear arms that the pope said threaten human dignity.

Speaking first at the Élysée Palace and then to diplomats and United Nations staff at UNESCO headquarters, the pope described a “paradise of machines” in which, he said, computational systems are credited with “intelligence” while human lives are dismissed once they fail to meet a test of efficiency. “The paradox has become increasingly evident: while ‘intelligence’ is attributed to computational systems, we struggle to recognize the inalienable dignity of human persons, whose lives are judged according to the criterion of efficiency and, when deemed no longer productive, are rejected and discarded,” he said.

The pope appealed to AI developers and regulators to slow down. “If we are to avoid losing our humanity amid a ‘paradise of machines’ invading and conditioning our daily lives, there is an urgent need for education in ethical discernment and the capacity to acknowledge the moral good,” he said.

AI has been a central theme of Leo’s pontificate since its start. He dedicated his first encyclical, “Magnificent Humanity,” to the topic, calling for robust regulation and for AI developers to work for the common good rather than profit. Speaking to reporters en route to Paris, Leo said several major AI companies had begun to respond to the Vatican’s message. “Good things are beginning at least,” he said. “And I think from their perspective, many of them, they’re very much open to looking for ways of making sure that AI does not displace or ultimately destroy humanity, but rather than be a tool for human beings.”

The pope also used the trip to press a second message on nuclear weapons. With wars plaguing Europe and the Middle East, he reaffirmed the Vatican’s opposition to nuclear weapons and said the doctrine of nuclear deterrence was “mistaken” because it was fueling a new arms race. “Peace is not a balance of power; rather, it is built day by day through dialogue and justice,” he said.

In his speech to Macron and other government and diplomatic authorities, Leo reminded France of its “deep Christian roots” and called especially for the French to remember that the right to life is the “indispensable foundation of every other human right.” The message contrasted with two recent French legislative moves: the 2024 constitutional enshrinement of the right to abortion, and lawmakers’ final approval of a bill allowing adults with incurable illnesses to receive lethal medication. The French Catholic hierarchy strongly opposed both measures, in keeping with Catholic teaching that human life must be protected from conception until natural death.

Macron, who is barred from seeking a third term in elections scheduled for May, hosted the American pope at the Élysée as a capstone to his presidency. Macron said Leo’s visit brings “a source of hope” to many French people. “France stands on the side of peace, effective multilateralism, respect for international law and the United Nations Charter … because every life has equal value, and all peoples must be defended,” Macron said. Smiling broadly as Leo spoke French, the president thanked the pope, saying: “You are here with us for an extended visit, giving us your time, and that is moving.”

With seven months left in his term, Macron’s approval ratings are near record lows, driven by anger over the rising cost of living and criticism of France’s growing debt and deficit and deteriorating public services. Church bells tolled across the country when Leo’s charter flight landed at Paris’s Orly airport, and more than a million people are expected to turn out. Lining the streets of the capital as the motorcade passed, onlookers underscored the unusual level of public interest in the trip.

Pope Francis had refused repeatedly to make a proper state visit to France during his 12-year pontificate and pointedly refused to join the 2024 inauguration of the rebuilt Notre Dame cathedral. Charles Mercier, director of history and sociology of Catholicism studies at Paris EPHE university, said a papal visit can be politically useful to a president in Macron’s position. “For a president of the republic as Macron, who is at the end of his mandate, it can be important to be aside the pope and to capture a part of his popularity,” Mercier said.

France’s strict constitutional separation of church and state has eroded the Catholic Church’s influence on ethical debates in the country. The Rev. Aristide Ahidote, a priest from Ivory Coast, planned to attend the pope’s vespers service at Notre Dame on Friday evening. “God has given us a pope with vigor and strength,” he said. Acknowledging that the French church had declined in popularity, Ahidote added: “It still has small remnants and these small remnants have been edifying for me.”

Unlike Francis, who liked to travel to small Catholic communities far from Rome, Leo has been keen to emphasize and reawaken Europe’s Christian roots.