Pope Leo XIV discusses major challenges of EU and its future with European bishops
Pope Leo XIV met with the Commission of the Episcopal Conferences of the European Union (COMECE) on May 21 to discuss the future of the EU and current global challenges. The bishops highlighted issues such as migration, rising populism, poverty, data protection, artificial intelligence, abortion access across the EU, and European mental health. They explored the possibility of a papal visit to the European Parliament, the appointment of a special envoy for freedom of religion, and the impact of recent political shifts in the Parliament. The Pope stressed the importance of dialogue, peace, and respecting migrants while ensuring they receive needed services. This meeting marked the second official encounter between the Holy Father and COMECE.
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Pope Leo XIV met with the Commission of the Episcopal Conferences of the European Union (COMECE) on May 21, 2026 to discuss the EU’s future and a range of pressing challenges, emphasizing dialogue, peace, and the dignified treatment of migrants while outlining possible Church‑state collaborations and upcoming events 1.
The bishops highlighted migration as a priority, urging the Pope to consider how the Church can support migrants once they arrive in Europe. Leo XIV affirmed that states may set migration policies, but the Church must ensure that migrants receive needed services and full respect for their dignity 1.
COMECE’s agenda included concerns about the rise of populist movements, growing poverty, and the mental‑health crisis across Europe. The Pope was asked to reflect on the Church’s prophetic role in addressing these societal trends 1.
Topics such as data protection within the Church, the ethical implications of artificial intelligence, and the push for unrestricted access to abortion in the EU were also tabled for discussion 1.
Archbishop Bernardito Auza, the apostolic nuncio to the EU, reported that Leo XIV identified peace as the paramount issue for the Church’s engagement with political bodies. He urged bishops to deepen the Church’s relationship with European institutions while maintaining its prophetic voice 1.
Bishop Mariano Crociata described the audience as “calm, serene, and welcoming,” noting a natural, spontaneous dialogue that reinforced unity among the participants 1.*
How should the Catholic Church guide EU policy on migration and AI?
The Catholic Church’s guidance for EU policy on migration and artificial intelligence (AI) would be centered on one consistent criterion: the inviolable dignity of every human person and the common good. From that starting point, the Church would urge European institutions to design migration systems that respect persons (not merely flows) and AI rules that protect moral agency, justice, and human rights—not just efficiency.
The Church would insist that human dignity is intrinsic and therefore cannot be overridden by political convenience or fear. As Dignitas Infinita emphasizes, dignity is an “original datum” and every human being has “inalienable dignity,” meaning no one can authorize actions that deny this conviction.
EU implication: migration governance should be built around legal and administrative practices that treat migrants as persons with rights and not as disposable variables in economic or demographic planning.
Pope Francis teaches that the State is “at the service of the person and of natural groupings” (family, nation, cultural communities) and warns that states can be “subjugated to the interests of a dominant group” for motives of economic profit, oppressing minorities.
EU implication: EU migration policy must resist pressures to optimize outcomes for political majorities or economic elites at the expense of vulnerable groups; it must be accountable to the common good and not merely to “performance.”
In a direct summary of the Church’s approach, Pope Francis articulates the duty toward migrants:
“our duty to migrants can be articulated around four verbs: welcome, protect, promote and integrate.”
He adds two key clarifications:
EU implication: EU policy should pair border and residence regulations with robust, rights-respecting integration measures (language, education, access to work, community participation) rather than reducing policy to containment.
Pope Francis also states it is “the task of public authorities to protect… and to regulate migratory flows with the virtue of prudence.”
At the same time, he warns against nationalism: a state that arouses nationalistic sentiments against other nations or groups “would fail in its own mission,” recalling Europe’s tragic history.
EU implication: EU migration policy can and should include orderly procedures, but it must avoid dehumanizing rhetoric and discriminatory frameworks that treat migrants as threats by definition.
Saint John Paul II applies the same dignity principle to migration and work. He warns against maximizing profit by treating workers as instruments:
“We cannot close our eyes” to migrants facing harsh conditions, and the principle must be “for the dignity of the human person to be put above everything else.”
He specifically appeals to public authorities and contractors to avoid labor arrangements that disregard the person, noting a world would be “unpleasant to live in” if it prioritized “only having more” rather than helping the worker “to be more.”
EU implication: EU employment and welfare rules for migrants (including asylum seekers and lawful residents) should strongly prevent labor exploitation, underpayment, and social exclusion.
Catholic teaching would challenge AI governance that focuses only on utility or efficiency. In a message connected to the AI for Good Summit, the Holy See emphasizes that AI “cannot replicate moral discernment” or genuine human relationships, and therefore AI development and use must be paired with respect for human and social values and with “regulatory frameworks centered on the human person.”
EU implication: EU AI regulation should require that high-stakes decisions affecting people (especially those involving migration status, rights, or exclusion) remain under human responsibility, and that safeguards protect freedom, conscience, and privacy.
Pope Francis states plainly:
“artificial intelligence is above all else a tool. And it goes without saying that the benefits or harm it will bring will depend on its use.”
He warns that certain AI systems used in decision-making may “de facto delegat[e] to a machine the last word,” and may incorporate prejudices contained in data categories—such as ethnic origin or past offenses.
He also notes the methodological issue that “the algorithm… is neither objective nor neutral,” because computation can only examine realities formalized numerically.
EU implication: EU policy should treat algorithmic bias and opacity not as technical “side issues,” but as moral and legal risks requiring transparency, contestability, and human review in practice.
Pope Francis calls for responsible AI development that respects key values:
acting responsibly and respect such fundamental human values as “inclusion, transparency, security, equity, privacy and reliability.”
He also argues that it is not enough to rely on individual commitments by designers; societies should strengthen or establish bodies to examine ethical issues and protect the rights of those affected.
EU implication: EU AI rules should operationalize these values through institutional oversight and procedural rights (complaints, audits, and protection for affected persons).
Pope Leo XIV stresses that knowledge processes must involve “an adequate level of human responsibility and ethical evaluation,” especially so that individuals—including youth—gain “critical thinking skills” and “digital literacy.”
EU implication: alongside regulation, EU policy should fund education and public formation so citizens can understand and govern AI systems that affect their lives.
Because AI already affects “governance” and decision-making, Catholic guidance would apply the same dignity-centered logic to the “AI layer” of migration policy:
Pope Francis warns against systems that predict outcomes for individuals in ways that risk delegating the last word to a machine, potentially using prejudicial categories.
EU implication: for asylum adjudication, risk scoring, detention decisions, or family reunification outcomes, Catholic guidance would demand human decision-making with accountability, and robust procedures for explanation and appeal.
Pope Francis highlights that technological development that worsens inequalities and conflicts “can never count as true progress,” and that AI challenges are also “anthropological… educational, social and political.”
EU implication: EU AI use in migration should be evaluated for its effects on dignity, inclusion, social cohesion, and peaceful coexistence—not only border effectiveness.
Catholic guidance for EU policy on migration and AI would converge on three practical convictions: