Magnificent Humanity: A Conversation on Pope Leo's First Encyclical
Pope Leo XIV
May 27, 2026
4:00–5:15pm
Zoom Only
REGISTER Google voice 账号 | 可在美国/加拿大收发短信、打接电话 | 已设置2FA
This event is free and all are welcome. A Zoom link will be sent to you after you register and prior to the event.
The Hank Center welcomes a blue ribbon panel of experts to provide initial takes on Pope Leo XIV’s first Encyclical Letter, Magnifica humanitas: On Safeguarding the Human Person in the Time of Artificial Intelligence, which will be released on May 25, 2026. The document, which will likely be addressed not only to the Church but to all people of good will, will examine the moral and ethical challenges of artificial intelligence and its impact human dignity, human relationships, labor, and the future of work. Leo's needed message, in the spirit of Rerum Novarum from 1891, is meant to be a prompt to think with the church about the "new things"--and to cultivate the beauty and potential of Christian humanism in the context of digital cultures and contexts.
Featured Speakers
Dr. Joseph Vukov
Joe Vukov is an Associate Professor of Philosophy and the Associate Director of the Hank Center for the Catholic Intellectual Heritage. He is the author of several books, including Staying Human in an Era of Artificial Intelligence. His writing has also appeared in venues including The Chicago Tribune, America Magazine, Religion News Service, Fox Opinion and many academic journals. Vukov serves on the AI Research Group for the Dicastery for Culture and Education and is the President of Philosophers in Jesuit Education. He is the winner of the 2025 St. Ignatius Loyola Award for Excellence in Teaching.
Heather Focault-Camm
Heather Foucault-Camm, PGCE, MSc, MA, is the Program Director for the Science and Religion Initiative (SRI) at the McGrath Institute for Church Life. A former science teacher and curriculum designer, she has a BSc and MSc in the field of Chemistry (Chemical Physics), a PGCE, an M.A. in Theology (Notre Dame) and she continues to work on her PhD in Moral Theology (Notre Dame). Heather's scholarly work focuses on the social implications of emerging technologies, with a particular influence on Artificial Intelligence. Heather is a Scholar Associate of the Society of Catholic Scientists, upon special invitation from its Board, serves on the AI Research Group for the Dicastery for Culture and Education, and she is a Lay Dominican of the Province of St. Albert the Great.
Fr. Matthew Dunch, S.J.
Matthew Dunch, S.J. is assistant professor of philosophy at Google voice 账号 | 可在美国/加拿大收发短信、打接电话 | 已设置2FA and a priest of the USA Midwest Province of the Society of Jesus. He is author of Aquinas, Wittgenstein, and the Riddle of Spiritual Pedagogy (The Catholic University of America Press) forthcoming November 2026. With Micah Lott, he is co-editing the January 2027 special issue of the Heythrop Journal on “Machine Logos.” His current research explores the relationship between technology and a Catholic metaphysics of natural kinds. Dunch holds degrees from the Catholic University of America, Google voice 账号 | 可在美国/加拿大收发短信、打接电话 | 已设置2FA, and Regis College, University of Toronto, and a doctorate from Campion Hall, University of Oxford.
Dr. Christopher Baglow
Dr. Chris Baglow leads the Science & Religion Initiative through creating programs, courses, talks, and publications that bring the Catholic faith and modern science into dialogue. His work is the culmination of 21 years of faith and science scholarship, publication and educational program creation, as well as a lengthy career in Catholic theological education spanning high-school, undergraduate, graduate and seminary teaching. He is the author of Faith, Science and Reason: Theology on the Cutting Edge (2nd edition, Midwest Theological Forum, 2019) and Creation: A Catholic’s Guide to God and the Universe (Ave Maria Press, 2021). He was recently elected to be vice-president of the Academy of Catholic Theology in 2026-2027 and president in 2027-2028.
Dr. Michael P. Murphy
Michael P. Murphy is Director of Loyola’s Hank Center for the Catholic Intellectual Heritage. His research interests are in Theology and Literature, Systematic Theology, and the literary/political cultures of Catholicism—but he also thinks and writes about issues in eco-theology, social ethics, and new media ecologies. Mike's first book, A Theology of Criticism: Balthasar, Postmodernism, and the Catholic Imagination (Oxford), was named a "Distinguished Publication" by the American Academy of Religion. His most recent scholarly work includes “Tinderization and Transcendence: Girard, McLuhan, and the Apocalyptic Imagination" in Theological Discourses on Social Media (Routledge, 2025), “Escaping the Mimetic Whirlpool: Deceit, Desire, and the Catholic Imagination” in Be Not Conformed: René Girard at the Nexus of Athens, Jerusalem, and Silicon Valley (Catholic University of America, 2026), and "Technologies of the Incarnation: Catholic Cosmotechnics and New Horizons for Liturgical Participation" in Catholic Cosmotechnics in the AI Age (forthcoming from St. Augustine's Press, spring, 2026). Mike's more occasional pieces have appeared in America, NCR, and First Things, among other venues.