VATICAN CITY (RNS) — Nobel laureates and other thought leaders, scientists and celebrities will come together this weekend (Sept. 12 to 13) for the World Meeting on Human Fraternity, a Vatican-sponsored event that included roundtable discussions on issues that are at the heart of global strife and will determine humanity’s future.
“The world is currently marked by conflicts and divisions, which makes it all the more important that you are united by a strong and courageous ‘no’ to war and a ‘yes’ to peace and fraternity,” said Pope Leo XIV Friday in a meeting with participants of the event.
Leo questioned the world’s concern with the “business of wars,” which target innocent people and destroy cities and devastates the environment. He encouraged the audience members to see migrants “who are despised, imprisoned and rejected” as brothers and sisters and to help the poor, who are often discarded in a society “that values profit more than people.” He also challenged modern, hyperconnected societies that allow loneliness to prevail.
“We need an extensive ‘covenant of humanity,’ founded not on power but on care; not on profit but on gift; not on suspicion but on trust,” the pontiff said.
The event is the third in an annual series of gatherings inspired by Pope Francis’ 2020 encyclical “Fratelli Tutti” (Brother’s All), which focused on building dialogue, relationships and friendship among religions, ethnicities and ideologies. It is promoted by St. Peter’s Basilica, the Fratelli Tutti Foundation and Be Human ETS.
Friday’s 15 roundtables took place in locations around Rome to discuss the futures of agriculture, the environment and sustainability; local administration; art and literature; children’s welfare; economy and finance; education; political formation; businesses; information; artificial intelligence; work; health; sport; and nonprofit organizations.
Representatives from The New York Times, Fox News and BBC, as well as Italian media and many others, meanwhile, gathered to reflect on issues of truth, dignity and freedom, for what organizers described as the “G20 of information.”
The Vatican’s focus on AI has grown in recent years as the technology develops, and Leo has shown a particular concern for the consequences of the transformative technology. At the table focused on AI was Canadian computer scientist Yoshua Bengio, a pioneer of artificial neural networks and deep learning who is considered the most cited living scientist of all time.
Speakers at the table addressed the dangers of Artificial General Intelligence (a version of AI that may potentially perform any task a human can) and the need for regulation of AI for the good of humanity. “We really need moral leadership on this issue,” Max Tegmark, a Swedish-American physicist and MIT professor and co-founder of the Future of Life Institute, told Religion News Service.
Max Tegmark, a physicist and professor, speaks during an AI roundtable event on Friday, Sept. 12, 2025. RNS photo by Claire Giangravè
“Why should there be no requirements you have to meet to have the rights to unleash super intelligence on the world, when even to unleash a new pasta dish in the world, you have to have someone first check that the benefits outweigh the harm?” he asked.
Tegmark said he would be “delighted” if the pope wrote an encyclical on AI clarifying that it should be “our tool, not our master” and “not some sort of strange digital God created by atheists from San Francisco that can dominate us.”
The musician, producer and tech entrepreneur will.i.am concluded the AI roundtable events with remarks underlining the qualities that make humans human. “We are gathered here at the Vatican, I think, because we’re supposed to ask ourselves, ‘What are we?’” he said, calling for the start of “a new chapter for humanity.”
On Saturday, at a gathering titled “Assembly of Humanity,” government officials and Nobel Prize recipients will gather all the insights from the roundtables and offer them to the world as a means to define “what truly makes us human.” The document will be drafted in a “synodal” manner, a term that encapsulates Francis’ vision for dialogue, welcome and transparency in the Catholic Church.
On Sept. 13, a concluding ceremony in St. Peter’s Square called “Grace for the World” will feature performances by Andrea Bocelli, Pharrell Williams, John Legend and Karol G, who will appear beneath a light exhibition inspired by the Sistine Chapel constructed from more than 3,000 drones. The exhibition will be streamed live by Disney+, Hulu and ABC News Live.