Encyclicals mark time. A century from now, how will we be remembered for how we met this moment? Will we be seen as having been too timid or shortsighted to prevent a small group of unfathomably wealthy and self-interested people from seizing ever greater control over the human family's shared destiny?
Framing the AI moment through a century-long lens is the encyclical's most distinctive rhetorical move. Papal encyclicals on social issues (Rerum Novarum on labor in 1891, Laudato Si on climate in 2015) are consistently cited decades later as prophetic. The authors are betting that Magnifica Humanitas will be read the same way — as the moment the Catholic Church staked a clear position on AI governance before the outcome was determined.