Augustinian References in the Encyclical “Magnifica Humanitas”

Fr. Juan Antonio Cabrera Montero, OSA

Leo XIV’s first encyclical, recently published, represents a further step in the development of the Church’s social doctrine, inaugurated 135 years ago by Leo XIII. The Holy Father’s desire is that Christians become “weavers of hope in our world, sharing what we are and what we have, so that the presence of Jesus may grow among us and his Kingdom may take shape” (n. 245). Its distinctly anthropological and social character does not preclude continuous reference to the Gospel message and the tradition of the Church. In these brief lines, we will not delve into an analysis of the numerous proposals—many of them novel—that the text offers. We will focus solely, due to their significance, on the Augustinian references that appear in the encyclical.

The document begins with an image, developed and explored in various parts of the text, that will sound familiar to readers of St. Augustine: the contrast between two types of city/civilization and the dilemma facing humanity: either to build a new Babel or to rebuild Jerusalem. Two models, two possibilities from which humanity can or must

choose. It is a recurring theme in Augustinian thought, although the Pope does not explicitly refer to St. Augustine in this introductory section. A little later, however, the first Augustinian quotation appears. In paragraph 11, referring precisely to the construction of a city centered on the common good and not on the idolatry of profit that sacrifices the weak, the Pope points to one of the fundamental characteristics of Augustinian anthropology: human happiness can only be found in God, toward whom every person must turn, “for you have made us for yourself, and our hearts are restless until they rest in you” (Confessions 1,1,1). This well-known phrase reflects what Augustine, from his earliest works, indicates as the inherent and common desire of every Christian: to know oneself and to know God (cf. Sol. 2.1.1; Conf. 10.1.1). This involves moving, logically, from ontological knowledge to existential knowledge, where faith, reason, and life find a common harmony that allows for the full realization of the person and, with it, of society, always through the collaboration between human nature and divine grace. This vocation to fullness is inscribed in human nature itself, created by and for God, the beginning and end of all life that seeks to be truly happy.

We turn to paragraph 129 to find the next Augustinian reference. After summarizing the foundations and principles of the Church's social doctrine in the second chapter of the encyclical, the third chapter is dedicated to the dialectic between technology and the role it plays in the development of human life. Following the description of a new paradigm (i.e., artificial intelligence) that potentially affects broad areas not only social but also, and primarily, anthropological, the Holy Father emphasizes the key to choosing the kind of civilization we want to build: love. What had been presented implicitly in the introduction is now expressed directly, through an Augustinian exegesis of the image of Babel in Genesis and Jerusalem in Nehemiah. Indeed, “Saint Augustine describes human history as a battleground between two loves, which have built two ways of inhabiting the world and living together, two ‘cities’: on the one hand, love of God and neighbor; on the other, love of self alone. ‘Two loves have given rise to two cities: the love of self to the point of contempt for God, the earthly city; and the love of God to the point of contempt for self, the heavenly city.’” [14,28] As in all human history, these two loves also struggle for dominance in our hearts today.

The age of AI is no exception to this rule: the building of Babel or that of Jerusalem begins in each one of us” (n. 129). Augustine refers explicitly to Babel in numerous passages of his works, but not directly to the rebuilding of Jerusalem as Nehemiah recounts it. In fact, in patristic times this book, although known and cited, albeit rarely, was often considered the second book of Ezra. It would be necessary to wait until one of the later Western Fathers, Bede the Venerable (7th-8th centuries), to find the first commentary specifically dedicated to this book of the Old Testament.

Once the key to making the right choice has been identified, the encyclical, in its fourth chapter, presents how what is specifically human must be safeguarded in every era of transformation. It does so through reflection on numerous aspects that affect and shape human life: truth, the political order, communication, education, work, the economy, the family, freedom, and slavery, among others.

In the fifth and final chapter of the encyclical, which addresses the culture of power and the civilization of love—so often invoked by John Paul II—the Holy Father incorporates the third Augustinian quotation. He does so in paragraph 215, referring to one of the themes that has marked the pontificate of Leo XIV from the very beginning: the building of peace. Peace, to be truly peace, necessarily requires justice. Thus, commenting on Psalm 85, "righteousness and peace will kiss," Augustine states: "No one does not desire to be at peace, but not everyone wants to practice justice." […] But you must practice justice, for peace and justice kiss each other; they are not at odds. And you, why do you not agree with justice? For example, justice tells you: do not steal, and you pay no attention; do not commit adultery, and you turn a deaf ear; do not do to others what you would not want done to you; do not speak about others what you would not want spoken about you. […] Do you want to find peace? Practice justice” [en. in Ps. 84,12].

This text is taken from a sermon, and thus the exhortation acquires, rhetorically as well, a tone of special relevance. It is not enough to know what must be done; it is necessary to act. Much of the literary production of the Church Fathers is the fruit of their pastoral work as guides and animators of the Christian community. The transmission of the contents of Christian faith and ethics is naturally complemented by an invitation to their practical application.

Cristo glorificado, de la tumba de San Agustín, Pavía, Italia

In the conclusion of the encyclical, Leo XIV presents another of the fundamental characteristics of the Church's social doctrine. When Christians are concerned about the world and its circumstances, when they seek solutions to problems, when they strive to propose a new way of inhabiting this earth, they do so anchored in Christ. Christ, however, is not understood as something abstract, as someone who simply preached and left us an example. If he taught us anything through his life, indeed, if he continues to instruct us in anything since then, it is precisely to live in communion with him and with others. The most real expression of this union between humanity and Christ is found in the Eucharist, the driving force of all Christian activity. It is precisely this aspect with which the Holy Father concludes his encyclical: all the good that Christians can accomplish in and for the world springs from the communion between the Church and its Head, Christ. At the root of every Christian action worthy of the name, Christ must be present: “What we see has a bodily appearance; What we understand is a spiritual fruit. Therefore, if you want to understand the Body of Christ, listen to the Apostle who says to the faithful: “You are the Body of Christ and members of it” (1 Cor 12:27). Consequently, if you are the Body of Christ and members of it, then the mystery that you yourselves are is placed on the Lord’s table: you receive the mystery that you are. To that which you are, you respond “Amen,” and in responding (thus) you seal it. You hear, then: “Body of Christ,” and you respond: “Amen.”

Be a member of the Body of Christ, so that your “Amen” may respond to the truth” [p. 272]. The food that the Eucharist offers is Christ himself; by receiving what we are, we perpetuate the presence of the Redeemer in our own person, in the Church, and in society. The final Augustinian reference, in the following issue, synthesizes this same message with the stylistic genius of St. Augustine through the episcopal motto of Leo XIV, already discussed numerous times: in Him who is one, we are one (“in Illo uno unum,” in Ps. 127,3).

Pope Leo XIV thus exhorts the Church to renew its commitment to the world through numerous proposals of a cultural, economic, political, technical, and social nature, all of which share a common characteristic: every ecclesial action springs from the desire to rebuild the city that God intended for humanity, structured in unity and founded on love, in Christ himself.

Juan Antonio Cabrera Montero, OSA. Friar/priest of the Order of Saint Augustine. After completing studies in Library Science and Documentation in Madrid, he obtained a doctorate in Theology and Patristic Sciences under the supervision of Professors H. Drobner and M. Simonetti, focusing on the Christology of Julian of Toledo, at the Pontifical Patristic Institute Augustinianum in 2014. At the Augustinianum, he also served as librarian from 2005 to 2016, lecturer—first as adjunct and then as full professor—since 2009, vice president from 2016 to 2024, and president since 2024. He has taught at the Accademia Alfonsiana since 2021 and at the Pontifical Lateran University since 2024.