NEWS: August 5, 2026
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Bird’s Eye View of the News
MAGNIFICA HUMANITAS, PROS & CONS - III –
One interesting contrast that Leo XIV makes in his first Encyclical is the antagonism between the Babel Tower and the Rebuilding of Jerusalem. These are literature symbols of two currents that the Pope wants to portray and use to summarize the situation of today’s world. The Babel Tower would be those who chase power and money above all else and are leading the world to chaos. The builders of Jerusalem would be those who strive for fraternity, equality and religious liberty to edify the “civilization of love.”
The metaphors are elegant. Their content, however, is open to discussion. Indeed, I found Magnifica humanitas’ whole portrayal of international affairs to be considerably incomplete.
No messianic Communism
First, in a long Encyclical turned toward giving orientation to Catholics on the principal evils present in the world, it is quite incomprehensible that Leo XIV does not clearly address Communism, which today represents a powerful pole of influence.
The only two weak references that could vaguely be interpreted as an indirect criticism of it are:
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The following text is still weaker and less explicit:
How could a Pope pretend to address the greatest present-day evils without explicitly mentioning Communism? It is very difficult not to consider this omission as connivance with its errors.
This impression of collusion is reinforced when we consider that Leo XIV does not spare one opportunity to criticize Capitalism (cf. §§43, 51, 66, 77-79, 83, 157-159, 161) or to praise a “participation” with socialist hues. (§§60-62, 64-67, 73, 74, 86, 87, 89, 108, 154, 158, 159, 163)
Another point is particularly shocking: MH makes extensive and severe criticism of all forms of “servitude directly linked to the digital economy,” (§172) and the degrading conditions of those working in the extraction minerals needed for microprocessors, (§173) as well as of those involved in human trafficking. (§§ 173, 175) It affirms that “the fight against new forms of slavery is a decisive test for the ethical discernment of AI and digital transformation.” (§174)
However, it does not make any clear mention of the slave labor in China, which is the greatest institutional scandal of social oppression of the last 50 years. Indeed, after Nixon’s economic openness to China (1972) and the corresponding reforms of Deng Xiaoping (1978), China offers to the entire world almost every needed product at lower prices due to the slave labor of its more than one billion people. Such hellish oppression has been made by the Chinese Communist Party against its own people.
Why does the Pope not address this blatant abuse? I do not see a way to avoid applying to him his own conclusion for those who omit denouncing slavery: “Falling to respond firmly, or tolerating these practices in any way, is in some way to become complicit in today’s sins.” (§175)
I regard Communism as the worst and most influential philosophical sect in the last 100 years. It is fully alive and aims for the conquest of the entire world to establish its dreamed-of Communist International. Some thinkers believe that the Messianism1 of Karl Marx was to reach this stage for mankind. Leo XIV fails to address this danger in Magnifica humanitas.
No messianic Zionism
Second, Pope Prevost uses the metaphor of the Babel Tower to include those world leaders who deliver themselves to greed and thirst for power, causing people to be exploited and wars to be waged. Such wars would be instigated by guilty governments to increase their power and territorial control and enrich their weapon industries.
These paragraphs of MH are characteristic:
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The main causes for the Middle East wars are neither “the clash between two opposing imperialisms” nor the “enormous economic interests of the arms markets.” The driving motif behind Israel’s criminal genocide in Gaza, its violence against the Palestinians in the West Bank, and its invasion of Syria and South Lebanon is the religious goal of establishing the
“Greater Israel” from the Nile to the Euphrates. With this, the Jewish messiah may arrive and Israel may establish its open dominium over the world. Some political leaders at Israel's ministries have publicly stated it.
This was also, according to impartial critics, the real cause of the ongoing conflict that the United States and Israel initiated against Iran on February 28.
We are facing, therefore, the rise of another Messianism that aims at a hegemony over the entire world and the destruction of what remains of Christendom.
I found no place in MH where this Messianism is addressed. The phrase, “any attempt or plan to eliminate or subjugate a nation is gravely immoral and therefore unacceptable,” (§64) certainly applies to Israel, among other nations, but it does not address Israel’s messianic goal.
Why does the Vicar of Christ not warn Catholics and the entire world about these messianic wars that explain the deepest aspects of the present-day reality? Blindness? Human respect? Connivance? I do not have the elements to answer.
No messianic Islamism
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Third, any sociologist or political analyst needs to be blind to not realize that the growing Muslim invasion of Europe under the pretext of migration is meant to take over that Continent in one generation. Today the Muslim population in Europe counts around 50 million people. They do not hide that they want to replace Europe’s race and religion with their own. Is this not another Messianism? I am convinced it is a religious conquest of Europe. Europe is not the only place where this is happening.
If we consider Iran and its Shiite ayatollahs, we see that they may use this Muslim human force – more powerful than any nuclear weapon – to bring Europe to its knees and take it over.
What have the Conciliar Popes done regarding the Muslim conquest? They fully support it in the name of charity toward immigrants… Leo XIV in Magnifica humanitas included. (cf. §§81, 153)
In my three articles (here, here and the one you are reading), I still have not discussed the position of MH on AI. I plan to do so in my next article and close this series.
To be continued
The metaphors are elegant. Their content, however, is open to discussion. Indeed, I found Magnifica humanitas’ whole portrayal of international affairs to be considerably incomplete.
No messianic Communism
First, in a long Encyclical turned toward giving orientation to Catholics on the principal evils present in the world, it is quite incomprehensible that Leo XIV does not clearly address Communism, which today represents a powerful pole of influence.
The only two weak references that could vaguely be interpreted as an indirect criticism of it are:
- “It is important to ensure that this growth in appreciation of human dignity is not obscured by the pressure of new ideologies or very powerful interests in today’s world. Among these ideologies, I consider particularly insidious the one that suggests that every person must earn or justify his or her own worth, to the point of attributing greater value to those who are more efficient or effective. From this perspective, persons end up being reduced to a means of achieving results, a resource to be used and exploited, and are no longer recognized as a proper end in themselves who should never be instrumentalized. The value of persons, however, does not depend on what they achieve or produce. There are rights that apply to everyone simply by virtue of being human, and no human power can legitimately deny or arbitrarily limit them.” (§51)
Top, the commemoration of 100 years of the Communist International; bottom, a meeting of the Chinese Communist Party in 2022
- “After all, democracy does not consist of rules and procedures alone, but above all of a solid concordance with the facts and a genuine commitment to the good of individuals and society as a whole. Indifference to the truth leads, slowly but surely, to a descent into totalitarianism. (§13)
How could a Pope pretend to address the greatest present-day evils without explicitly mentioning Communism? It is very difficult not to consider this omission as connivance with its errors.
This impression of collusion is reinforced when we consider that Leo XIV does not spare one opportunity to criticize Capitalism (cf. §§43, 51, 66, 77-79, 83, 157-159, 161) or to praise a “participation” with socialist hues. (§§60-62, 64-67, 73, 74, 86, 87, 89, 108, 154, 158, 159, 163)
Another point is particularly shocking: MH makes extensive and severe criticism of all forms of “servitude directly linked to the digital economy,” (§172) and the degrading conditions of those working in the extraction minerals needed for microprocessors, (§173) as well as of those involved in human trafficking. (§§ 173, 175) It affirms that “the fight against new forms of slavery is a decisive test for the ethical discernment of AI and digital transformation.” (§174)
However, it does not make any clear mention of the slave labor in China, which is the greatest institutional scandal of social oppression of the last 50 years. Indeed, after Nixon’s economic openness to China (1972) and the corresponding reforms of Deng Xiaoping (1978), China offers to the entire world almost every needed product at lower prices due to the slave labor of its more than one billion people. Such hellish oppression has been made by the Chinese Communist Party against its own people.
Why does the Pope not address this blatant abuse? I do not see a way to avoid applying to him his own conclusion for those who omit denouncing slavery: “Falling to respond firmly, or tolerating these practices in any way, is in some way to become complicit in today’s sins.” (§175)
I regard Communism as the worst and most influential philosophical sect in the last 100 years. It is fully alive and aims for the conquest of the entire world to establish its dreamed-of Communist International. Some thinkers believe that the Messianism1 of Karl Marx was to reach this stage for mankind. Leo XIV fails to address this danger in Magnifica humanitas.
No messianic Zionism
Second, Pope Prevost uses the metaphor of the Babel Tower to include those world leaders who deliver themselves to greed and thirst for power, causing people to be exploited and wars to be waged. Such wars would be instigated by guilty governments to increase their power and territorial control and enrich their weapon industries.
These paragraphs of MH are characteristic:
- “If we examine global dynamics, we can recognize more clearly the spread of a culture of power characterized by polarization and violence. The modern Babel can be seen not only in the globalized technocratic paradigm, but also in the remote clash between opposing imperialisms, between powers that wish to preserve their supremacy, and those that aspire to seize that supremacy, resulting in a multiplicity of local conflicts. Moreover, there seems to be no limit to the race – driven by a dehumanizing ambition – to develop evermore powerful technologies or to secure control over them.” (§185)
- “The growth of the military-industrial complex has become a defining feature of the current political landscape and has become a key sector in the economy of various countries. The close link between economic interests, the military apparatus and political decisions produce an “armed nation,” in which war appears as a natural extension of politics, and the arms market becomes an autonomous driving force behind military decisions. Nor can we ignore the enormous economic interests behind war. The armaments industry, and countries that supply weapons, profit from a market that thrives precisely on conflicts. In this sense, there are also financial interests that contribute to fueling tensions in various regions of the world.” (§193)
Top, the emblem of Greater Israel is on the arms of every soldier; bottom, minister Ben Gvir, its strong proponent
This was also, according to impartial critics, the real cause of the ongoing conflict that the United States and Israel initiated against Iran on February 28.
We are facing, therefore, the rise of another Messianism that aims at a hegemony over the entire world and the destruction of what remains of Christendom.
I found no place in MH where this Messianism is addressed. The phrase, “any attempt or plan to eliminate or subjugate a nation is gravely immoral and therefore unacceptable,” (§64) certainly applies to Israel, among other nations, but it does not address Israel’s messianic goal.
Why does the Vicar of Christ not warn Catholics and the entire world about these messianic wars that explain the deepest aspects of the present-day reality? Blindness? Human respect? Connivance? I do not have the elements to answer.
No messianic Islamism
If we consider Iran and its Shiite ayatollahs, we see that they may use this Muslim human force – more powerful than any nuclear weapon – to bring Europe to its knees and take it over.
What have the Conciliar Popes done regarding the Muslim conquest? They fully support it in the name of charity toward immigrants… Leo XIV in Magnifica humanitas included. (cf. §§81, 153)
In my three articles (here, here and the one you are reading), I still have not discussed the position of MH on AI. I plan to do so in my next article and close this series.
To be continued
- I consider Messianism a religious or philosophical movement that, with or without a personal Messiah, will only stop when it will impose its doctrine on the entire world, will achieve complete political control over it and will eliminate all its opposers. As we will see, the Jews and the Muslims are waiting for a messiah or a great Mahdi; the communists struggle for a new stage of mankind with an analogous “fervor” and drive.
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