AEHT Welcomes Pope Leo XIV’s Encyclical on Human Dignity and Technology
The Alliance to End Human Trafficking welcomes the release of Magnifica Humanitas, the first encyclical of His Holiness Pope Leo XIV, which calls the world to safeguard the human person in a time increasingly shaped by artificial intelligence and rapidly advancing technologies. The encyclical reminds us that human dignity can never be measured by productivity, efficiency, profit, or data, but by the inherent worth of every person created in the image of God.
As an organization committed to ending human trafficking and exploitation, we recognize the urgency of the papal warning that modern systems can reduce people to “resources to be used and exploited.” Around the world, trafficking thrives wherever human beings are treated as disposable labor, commodities, or invisible workers.
“Pope Leo’s call to uphold human dignity speaks directly to the realities that allow human trafficking to persist,” said Katie Boller Gosewisch, Executive Director of the Alliance to End Human Trafficking. “Trafficking grows wherever people are treated as disposable, whether through exploitative labor systems, online exploitation, forced migration, or economic vulnerability. This encyclical reminds us that technological advancement and economic systems must always remain grounded in the protection of human life and dignity.”
The encyclical also challenges all sectors of society to ensure that emerging technologies serve the common good rather than deepen exclusion and exploitation. This includes protecting children online, addressing vulnerabilities created by displacement and poverty, and ensuring that technological advancement never comes at the expense of workers, migrants, women, or marginalized communities.
We are especially encouraged by Pope Leo’s insistence that ethical responsibility cannot be separated from technological development. Artificial intelligence and digital platforms already shape recruitment, labor systems, migration, surveillance, and online exploitation. Without strong moral leadership, survivor-informed policies, and protections centered on human dignity, these tools risk becoming mechanisms that enable further abuse and exploitation.
The Alliance to End Human Trafficking remains committed to advancing prevention, advocacy, education, and survivor support rooted in Catholic social teaching and the dignity of every person.
Alliance to End Human Trafficking was founded in 2013 by a group of Catholic Sisters committed to ending human trafficking and supporting survivors. They created a national network of resources and support that includes many different congregations of women religious and mission-aligned partners. Today, this member-based organization has grown to include more than 115 congregations and another 100+ individuals and organizations spread throughout the United States. AEHT is also the U.S. member of Talitha Kum, the international network of consecrated life working to end human trafficking.
CONTACT: Waed Al-Nimri, AEHT Communications Director