Pope Leo XIV warned that investment in artificial intelligence and advanced weaponry was leading the world into a "spiral of annihilation," in an address at Rome’s La Sapienza University, one of Europe’s largest universities.
The visit marked the first time a pope had appeared on the campus since Benedict XVI cancelled a planned speech there in 2008 amid faculty objections. Leo used the occasion to link technological change directly to the conduct of contemporary wars.
"What is happening in Ukraine, in Gaza and the Palestinian territories, in Lebanon, and in Iran illustrates the inhuman evolution of the relationship between war and new technologies in a spiral of annihilation," the pontiff said.
Leo also criticised the sharp rise in military spending over the past year, particularly in Europe, arguing that it was coming at the expense of education and healthcare while enriching a narrow elite.
He called for closer monitoring of how artificial intelligence is developed and deployed in both military and civilian settings, a theme he has repeatedly identified as among the most pressing facing humanity.
Vatican officials have said those concerns are expected to feature in Leo’s first encyclical, due to be published in the coming weeks. The pope’s remarks added a prominent moral voice to a debate increasingly shaped by defence ministries and technology firms.