By Carol Glatz
VATICAN CITY — At a time when digital technologies are developing at a rapid and unpredictable pace, every single person must decide if she or he will be: a passive bystander; an unhelpful commentator; an avaricious architect of a new “Tower of Babel”; or a patient, hope-filled builder of a “civilization of love,” Pope Leo XIV said in his first encyclical, “Magnifica Humanitas.”
In the 82-page document, released May 25, the day after Pentecost, the pope also asked forgiveness for the Church’s long tolerance of slavery, and he declared that its “just war theory” was now outdated.
“Today, more than ever, without prejudice to the right to self-defense in the strictest sense, it is important to reaffirm that the ‘just war’ theory, which has all too often been used to justify any kind of war, is now outdated,” he wrote.
“Humanity possesses far more effective and capable tools for promoting human life and resolving conflicts, such as dialogue, diplomacy and forgiveness. The use of force, violence and weapons reflects a relational poverty that always has disastrous consequences for civilian populations,” the pope’s new document said.
The document, signed May 15, marked the 135th anniversary of his namesake’s landmark
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