Pope Leo XIV’s latest words landed like a stone in still water. In a world already drowning in alarming headlines, it would have been easy to dismiss another religious leader’s warning about technology as the same old doomsday rhetoric. But the pope was not making small talk, and he was not repeating a comfortable sermon. He was making a moral declaration, and he made sure the whole world heard it. Standing before reporters in Rome, he said that the idea artificial intelligence could destroy the world is not “fake news.” He meant it. The phrase was deliberate, aimed directly at…

Paragraph 1: A Pope’s Unlikely Warning in the Clouds It was an unusual setting for a conversation about the end of the world—or at least the end of the world as we know it. High above the earth, aboard the papal plane returning from a visit to France, Pope Leo XIV found himself fielding questions not about theology or liturgy, but about the algorithms that increasingly govern our daily lives. The Holy Father’s words were measured yet striking, especially in an era where public figures often toss around accusations of “fake news” like confetti. When asked about the potential for…