The Pope just chose sides in the AI safety war. While Trump is busy punishing Anthropic for refusing to weaponize their AI, the Vatican is about to elevate the company's co-founder as co-author of the most important moral document the Catholic Church will produce on artificial intelligence.

Pope Leo XIV (the first American-born pope, former Cardinal Robert Prevost) will launch his first encyclical on May 25, titled "Magnifica Humanitas" (Magnificent Humanity). The document will be co-launched with Christopher Olah, co-founder of Anthropic. Not Dario Amodei, but Olah - the researcher who left OpenAI alongside Amodei in 2021 over AI safety disagreements with Sam Altman.

The presentation happens in the Vatican's synod hall at 11:30 AM local time. The encyclical focuses on "care of human dignity in the era of AI" and will address artificial intelligence within church social teaching: labor, justice, and peace. This is geopolitics disguised as theology, and the timing couldn't be more explosive.

Here's why this matters: In February, Trump ordered all US agencies to stop using Anthropic's AI technology. The company was penalized for refusing to allow the US military unrestricted use of its AI systems. Anthropic is currently suing the administration over this. PBS notes that this papal encyclical will become a "new flashpoint with the Trump administration" precisely because of these tensions.

While the White House tries to destroy a company for prioritizing AI safety, the leader of 1.4 billion Catholics is about to give that same company's co-founder a platform to define the moral framework for AI development. That's not a coincidence.

This follows Pope Leo's May 14 "spiral of annihilation" speech at La Sapienza University, where he warned about AI's potential dangers. Unlike Pope Francis's 2020 "Rome Call for AI Ethics," which was general guidance, this is the first full encyclical dedicated to artificial intelligence.

Anthropic has built its entire brand around safety-first AI development. Olah's presence at the Vatican validates that approach at the highest levels of global moral authority. The message is clear: responsible AI development isn't just good business, it's a moral imperative.

The Trump administration can try to punish companies for refusing to build weapons. But when the Pope weighs in, the conversation changes. 1.4 billion Catholics are about to get an official opinion on AI safety, and it aligns perfectly with the company the White House is trying to destroy.

That's not theology. That's strategy.