Pope Leo has just given us a treasure chest of wisdom for our ministry. That’s the good news. The bad news is that it’s a really big chest and just getting the lid open is going to be a lot of work.

I am talking about the pope’s recent encyclical, Magnifica Humanitas. The document is packed with biblical references, social teaching, theology, and practical insights. Reading it carefully and mining everything that is there will be an enormous task. And I’m guessing you don’t have that kind of time right now.

So after reading through the pope’s letter myself, I found three insights that stood out for me. These aren’t the only treasures in the encyclical, but they are gems that I believe any catechumenate team can put into practice right now.

Why did Pope Leo write this?

Before we get to the insights, let me clarify why Pope Leo wrote this encyclical.

He identifies his purpose in the subtitle: “Safeguarding the Human Person in the Time of Artificial Intelligence.”

Now that might lead you to think the letter is all about AI. And it sort of is. But it is much more than that. It is a document about what it means to be human. Pope Leo’s concern is that a world dominated by artificial intelligence begins to value efficiency, optimization, and performance over human relationship. In his letter, he challenges us to resist this global dehumanization and restore the primacy of the human person.

Here are three core ways Pope Leo is calling us to safeguard humanity.

1. Don’t treat seekers as projects to improve

An AI-dominated world amplifies human imperfections. But, as St. Paul says, God’s strength is made perfect in our weakness (see 2 Cor. 12:9). Safeguarding humanity means embracing seekers who come to us as they are, “accepting the limits and weakness of humanity without considering them an error to be corrected” (MH 12).

This is not easy for us. We sometimes see our seekers as projects to be fixed. Once they get their lives in order, once they stop using, once they stop living together, once they show up more consistently, once they know the doctrine, then we can fully accept them.

Pope Leo invites us to not treat seekers as broken software that needs an upgrade. Instead, we have to listen deeply to their stories, touch their wounds, and reassure them in their doubt. Pope Leo asks us to accompany seekers in their humanity, just as they are. Just as Jesus did.

Pope Leo asks us to accompany seekers in their humanity, just as they are. Just as Jesus did.

2. Create spaces of love and truth

One of the genius things Pope Leo does in this document is that he summarizes his predecessors’ views of social teaching. Pope Benedict XVI’s lens is particularly important for our ministry. Pope Benedict “placed charity at the center of his analysis, stating that it ‘is at the heart of the Church’s Social Doctrine’” (MH 41).

The takeaway is that we cannot bend the truth to say that our actions in the world or the economic markets or our institutions are “neutral.” Everything either contributes to or inhibits the building up of a civilization of love.

We might hear that as a caution to politicians and business leaders. But Pope Leo is also pushing us to “an examination of conscience for the Church” so that we reevaluate our own systems and structures (MH 86).

What should we examine in our catechumenate ministry?

• The welcome shown to strangers at Mass
• The warmth of a response to the first inquiry
• Whether an e-mail or voice mail is answered
• If newcomers can find the meeting space (and what it looks like when they get there)
• If the inquiry period is focused on deeply listening to seekers’ stories
• Whether team members feel appreciated

Even more mundane things like keeping good records, overseeing the schedule, and managing the budget are acts of love. These gritty, boring, dull tasks are expressions of Christ’s love. If you are really going to be on the frontlines of safeguarding humanity, every act you do to welcome the stranger is an act of love that makes your imitation of Christ more authentic.

Every act you do to welcome the stranger is an act of love that makes your imitation of Christ more authentic.

3. Recover the mystery of the Trinity

In his encyclical, Pope Leo writes about “a technocratic paradigm that seeks to reduce everything to an object to be dominated” (MH 43). The technocratic paradigm prioritizes profit over personhood. Like the efforts to construct a Tower of Babel, the technocratic paradigm establishes an:

…idolatry of profit that sacrifices the weak, a uniformity that neutralizes differences, and the pretense that a single language — even a digital one — can translate everything, including the mystery of the person, into data and performance. (MH 10).

In contrast to Babel, Pope Leo calls us to a life-giving mystery that safeguards humanity. He reminds us that we are made in the image of the Trinity:

At the heart of the Christian understanding of the human person lies the great biblical affirmation that men and women are created in the image and likeness (cf. Gen 1:26–27) of the Triune God. Created for relationship, every human person is planned and willed by God to enter into communion with him, with others, and with creation. (MH 50)

Pause here to reflect on how astounding this is. What is the question every seeker comes to us with? Not the one they say out loud, but the one that is two or three or a dozen layers down—down deep in their heart—pulsing through their blood and bones every moment of their lives? Every human person is seeking communion. Every human heart is on a quest for relationship.

The technocratic paradigm promises a better life by overcoming our limitations. It promises “an enhanced and almost disembodied humanity” and “a fuller life, less exposed to limitations and suffering” (MH 232). But it is an empty promise, designed to lure the vulnerable into giving up their humanity for the sake of efficiency and profit.

Trinitarian communion offers a richer, more fruitful promise. Instead of shunning suffering and imperfection, God did something radical. Rather than escaping our brokenness, God entered it, becoming one with our imperfect humanity and thereby declaring human weakness as the “paradigm” for salvation. “There is no moment or human situation,” writes Pope Leo, “that is not worthy of God” (MH 232).

Our ministry, then, is not merely to conduct doctrine classes or run an efficient, well-organized program. Rather, we accompany seekers into the embrace of the loving communion of Father, Son, and Spirit. Every conversation, every meal, every prayer, every shared tear or smile is an encounter with the boundless love of God. God never sees us as a problem to solve or data to manage. God loves every one of us simply as we are, completely and utterly human.

When seekers encounter a community that lives this Trinitarian mystery—where they are known, welcomed, and loved—they realize that the technocratic paradigm can never supersede love of God shared with the world.

God never sees us as a problem to solve or data to manage. God loves every one of us simply as we are, completely and utterly human.

One small part of the wall

In his encyclical, Pope Leo tells the story of the rebuilding of the ruins of Jerusalem. What made that rebuilding process a success was that “all [were] given their own section of the wall” to focus on (MH 13). You don’t need to read Pope Leo’s entire encyclical to do your job, but you do have to focus on your own small part of the wall.

You have to focus on the seeker right in front of you and listen deeply to their story. Every time we welcome a seeker into the communion of Christ and the church, we are safeguarding what it truly means to be human.