Pope Leo XIV has warned against treating scientific progress as a privilege for “millionaires seeking immortality”—and one quote-post has given the warning an AI-hype makeover. The complete November 14 @Pontifex post calls the vision of technologically perfected humans a “mirage.” Source Source
VaticanReportIt reported that Leo delivered the warning at Santo Toribio de Mogrovejo Catholic University in Chiclayo, Peru, where he had served as Grand Chancellor while bishop. The Vatican calendar lists the meeting with the academic community for November 13, 2026. Source Source
The @Pontifex statement describes transhumanism and posthumanism as “ideological currents according to which” technology will eventually eliminate disease, pain, aging and death. That is a promise the statement attributes to those ideologies, not a prediction Leo offers as his own. Source
Precisely because scientific progress is a supreme achievement of human intelligence, it must not be confused with a privilege reserved for millionaires seeking immortality, while entire peoples suffer from poverty and oppression. Source
The statement then rejects the “illusion of human beings perfected by cybernetics and biotechnology,” drawing on a Christian understanding of human nature to argue that “a limitation is not a manufacturing defect, but rather the very condition of human grandeur.” Source
On November 14, @kimmonismus quote-posted @Pontifex, excerpting the opening and declaring: “The pope is now bullish on AI. Let’s go.” The statement doesn’t explicitly mention AI. Source Source
@bryan_johnson predicts a religious return
Later that day, @bryan_johnson quote-posted Polymarket’s summary—not @Pontifex directly—and predicted: “watch for it: religion will come back.” Polymarket had described Leo’s remarks as calling out “millionaires seeking immortality” and dismissing technology’s promise to end aging and death. Source Source
@bryan_johnson wrote that “human souls need nourishment through community, ritual, sacrifice, and tradition,” predicting that people would need a stabilizing force offering meaning and purpose amid disruption from AI.
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