Pope Leo XIV reveals main challenge for humanity as he sets out vision of his papacy

Pope Leo XIV has revealed what he believes is one of humanity's main challenges ahead of his first Sunday address.

The new pontiff - formerly known as Robert Francis Prevost - has marked his first weekend as the new head of the Catholic Church by paying tribute to the recently deceased Pope Francis before outlining a vision for his own papacy.

And, for a man in a role that dates back nearly 2,000 years, Pope Leo XIV seems pretty forward-thinking when it comes to identifying the main issues facing mankind today.

So ahead of the pontiff's first address in the Vatican's St Peter's Square later today (11 May), what can we expect to see from Pope Leo XIV going forward?

Pope Leo XIV has laid out a vision for his papacy (Francesco Sforza - Vatican Media via Vatican Pool/Getty Images)

In regards to some of his concerns about social and societal changes, it would seem that Pope Leo XIV is very much like the rest of us, as the 69-year-old revealed his belief that artificial intelligence is the main challenge which humanity will face in the coming years.

Sharing the view during a meeting with the College of Cardinals yesterday (10 May), the pontiff said that 'developments in the field of artificial intelligence that pose new challenges for the defence of human dignity, justice and labour'.

It would seem the Chat GPT and computer-generated image revolution has been something which has been on his mind for a while as well, as the pope also revealed that AI had influenced his choice in papal name.

When explaining the decision to take Leo as his new religious moniker, the pontiff referred to the previous Pope Leo XIII, who reigned from 1878 to 1903 and was a vocal commentator on the impact of the industrial revolution.

And it would seem that AI advancements have now made it to the inner halls of the Vatican (Francesco Sforza Vatican Media via Vatican Pool/Getty Images)

"Pope Leo XIII in his historic Encyclical Rerum Novarum addressed the social question in the context of the first great industrial revolution," he explained. Published in 1891, the Rerum Novarum focused on the rights and conditions of society's working classes at the time.

He continued: "In our own day, the church offers everyone the treasury of its social teaching in response to another industrial revolution and to developments in the field of artificial intelligence that pose new challenges for the defence of human dignity, justice and labour."

Pope Leo XIV reportedly also pledged to continue the social reforms of his predecessor Pope Francis, made in his 2013 mission statement, and promised to make the church a more inclusive place for the 'least and rejected' (via CBS News).