Episode 064 – Magnificent Humanity: A Conversation on Magnifica Humanitas with Nick Stein

  • 47 min

Episode 064 – Magnificent Humanity: A Conversation on Magnifica Humanitas with Nick Stein

The Church Podcast

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In this episode of The Church Podcast, Christopher sits down with Nick Stein, International Director of Young Adult Ministry for the Sisters of Bon Secours of Paris and Chair of the Board of Directors for the National Institute for Ministry with Young Adults, through the NFCYM Podcast Network.

Nick returns to the show for his second appearance, this time to dig into Pope Leo XIV's first encyclical, Magnifica Humanitas — "On Safeguarding the Human Person in the Time of Artificial Intelligence." Signed on May 15, 2026, the 135th anniversary of Pope Leo XIII's Rerum Novarum, the document situates the AI revolution within the full tradition of Catholic Social Doctrine and calls the Church and the world to protect human dignity in a time of rapid technological change.

Together, Christopher and Nick explore how to read and approach a papal encyclical, what the document actually says (beyond the headlines), and what it means for ministry leaders, catechists, and anyone trying to live faithfully in a digitally saturated world. They also walk through the encyclical's two guiding biblical images — the Tower of Babel and Nehemiah's rebuilding of Jerusalem — and surface some of its most challenging and practical insights.

In This Episode

• How to approach a papal encyclical with the right posture — and why reading the table of contents first matters more than you think
• Why Pope Leo XIV deliberately signed this document on the 135th anniversary of Rerum Novarum and what that connection to Catholic Social Doctrine tells us
• The distinction Pope Leo draws between "Catholic social teaching" and "Catholic social doctrine" — and why the word choice is intentional
• Why this encyclical is not a document about AI, but a document about humanity in the age of AI — and what that reframe means for ministry
• The Tower of Babel and Nehemiah as the document's two guiding biblical images — what they reveal about how we build, why we build, and who gets included
• Pope Leo's warning about algorithms making judgments without human accountability, and what that means for justice in work, education, and everyday life
• How AI intersects with war, labor, education, and community — and why chapters four and five of the encyclical are worth pushing through
• A practical challenge: how to embed Magnifica Humanitas as a guiding framework inside your AI tools of choice

About Nick Stein

Nick Stein is the International Director of Young Adult Ministry for the Sisters of Bon Secours of Paris, an international religious order based in the Baltimore, Maryland area, where he oversees young adult ministry efforts across six countries. He also serves as Chair of the Board of Directors for the National Institute for Ministry with Young Adults and has been a leading voice in Catholic young adult ministry in the United States for many years.

Resources Mentioned

• Magnifica Humanitas — Full Text (Vatican)
• Rerum Novarum — Pope Leo XIII
• Magisterium AI (mentioned by Christopher as a Catholic-guided AI tool)

How to Add Magnifica Humanitas as a Skill in Your AI Tool

Nick challenged listeners to bring this encyclical into their AI conversations. Here's how to do it in the two most common tools:

Claude (claude.ai)

1. Go to Settings > Profile and find the User Preferences or Custom Instructions section.
2. Paste something like: "In our conversations, please draw on the principles of Pope Leo XIV's encyclical Magnifica Humanitas — especially its teachings on human dignity, the common good, subsidiarity, and the responsible use of technology — when giving guidance or answering questions."
3. Save. Claude will now apply those principles across your conversations.

ChatGPT (OpenAI)

1. Click your profile icon and go to Settings > Personalization > Custom Instructions.
2. In the "How would you like ChatGPT to respond?" field, paste something like: "When answering questions, draw on the principles of Pope Leo XIV's encyclical Magnifica Humanitas, particularly around human dignity, the ethics of AI, Catholic Social Doctrine, and integral human development."
3. Save. The instruction will carry into future conversations.

You can also upload the full text of the encyclical directly into a conversation in either tool and ask it to reference the document specifically.

Connect with Nick

• Website: bonsecours.org
• Instagram: @bonsecoursyoungadults

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