Pope Leo XIV‘s first encyclical, Magnifica Humanitas, is perfectly timed. In the document, signed on the 135th anniversary of Pope Leo XIII’s Rerum Novarum, the pope takes up the question that now looms over every sector of modern life: What happens to human dignity when artificial intelligence reshapes how we work, think, and relate to one another? The short answer the pope gives is the same one the Church has consistently taught: Technology is not “a force antagonistic to humanity,” nor is it “inherently evil.” At the same time, “technology is never neutral, because it takes on the characteristics of those who devise, finance, regulate, and use it.” That’s a crucial distinction, and one that too many commentators on both sides of the AI debate miss. Tech utopians treat AI as an unalloyed good that will soon bring us vast riches and perhaps even immortality. Tech doomers treat it as an existential threat that must be stopped. Leo threads the needle: AI is a powerful tool that reflects the nature and intentions of its makers. Our job is to ensure those intentions serve the common good. On the question of human dignity, Leo is at his strongest. He insists that “the fundamental dignity of each person … is neither acquired nor earned, nor does it need to be justified.” He warns that “the pressure of new ideologies or certain highly powerful interests” can reduce the human person to “a resource to be used and exploited” or define people by “what they achieve or produce.” In a world dazzled by machine performance, it’s tempting to measure human worth by productivity, as if we’re just biological computers competing with silicon ones. The pope rejects that framing root and branch. One of the key delusions of our age is that humans and smart machines are the same types of things. We are nothing but machines made of meat. It’s no surprise that those who believe all of this worry that the “intelligent” machines we create can, and probably will, replace us. There are plenty of good arguments that show this line of reasoning is mistaken. One is the late John Searle’s famous Chinese Room thought experiment. Searle explained that computers work at the level of syntax—formal rules and symbols that we provide. They don’t work at the level of semantics—that is, of meaning. A computer, or a large language model, can simulate intelligence in its outputs. But it doesn’t grasp what anything means. It has no consciousness, no intentions, no moral agency. Pope Leo makes the same point in a theological register: AI can “imitate and simulate the person, but it does not possess a moral conscience, empathy, or affective, relational or spiritual capabilities.” My favorite part of the encyclical is its critique of transhumanism and posthumanism. Leo warns against ideologies that “interpret progress as the overcoming of human limits.” He insists, instead, that “limitations are not defects to be eliminated, but a constitutive dimension of the human person, because it is in fragility and finitude that relationship and openness to God and to others mature.” He boldly declares that “humanity flourishes not despite limitations, but often through them.” This is a profoundly countercultural claim. In Silicon Valley, finitude is a bug to be patched. For Leo, it’s a feature, the very condition that makes love, growth, and communion possible. I do have a worry, however, as both a Catholic and a policy analyst who sees how the sausage gets made. Pope Leo rightly stresses the need for “adequate AI policies and legal frameworks, independent oversight, and user education,” along with “an ethical code subject to shared standards of social justice, because ‘a more moral AI is not enough if that morality is determined by a few.'” This sounds right in the abstract. But AI is very complex. I don’t mean just the technology itself, but also the way it’s interpreted, and what its future effects will be. The prediction of mass unemployment, for instance, is one the pope treats at length. But this is, at best, a conjecture. Politicians, clerics, and self-appointed experts could use fears of mass unemployment to propose regulations that sound nice but do more harm than good. There’s also the related risk of what economists call regulatory capture, where dominant corporate and political players craft rules of “good governance” and “ethics” that lock out smaller competitors. In this way, they further concentrate their own power in a corporatist cartel—the very concentration of power Pope Leo decries. This risk of corporatism is one that the Holy See has, frankly, been slow to recognize. I’m reminded of a February 2020 conference hosted by the Pontifical Academy for Life. It produced a joint statement signed by various political and U.N. officials, as well as executives from IBM and Microsoft. “New forms of regulation,” it urged, “must be encouraged to promote transparency and compliance with ethical principles.” The principle of subsidiarity should counsel caution here: Centralized global regulation of AI would almost surely become a tool of the powerful rather than a shield for the vulnerable. Policymakers will need to avoid this risk if they are to fulfill the call of Magnifica Humanitas. Of course, the central theme of Magnifica Humanitas is not policy wonkery. It is about “humanity, created by God in all its grandeur.” Human dignity doesn’t depend on what we produce or how we perform against a large language model. It rests on what we are: Creatures made in the image of God, endowed with reason, freedom, and a capacity for love that no machine can touch. That’s a message our age badly needs to hear.

The rolling hills, dappled paths, and white crosses make Arlington National Cemetery in Virginia a place of quiet repose, deep emotion, and somber reflection. Dutifully, the nation honors its military dead there, and on this 158th Memorial Day, countless Americans will rightfully and respectfully pay homage to those who gave the last full measure of devotion in service to their nation. However, I want to point you to those who died in defense of their country during “periods of peace” and not war. Do you know that during the period 1950 to 1990, reasonable estimates show as many as 130,000 service members died in training or operational missions unrelated to combat or health-related causes. Training accidents alone during the early stages of aviation killed up to half as many during World War II as those lost in combat. During the period 1970 to 90 alone, the Department of Defense estimated that as many as 50,000 servicemembers died in non-combat, non-health-related incidents. The Cold War, from 1947 to 1991, saw major conflicts such as the Korean War, the Vietnam War, and the First Gulf War. However, servicemembers also died in lesser-known operations, like Grenada, Beirut, the USS Liberty attack, the USS Mayaguez action, the Dominican Republic, and Panama, too. The Marine barracks bombing in Beirut in October 1983 alone resulted in 241 servicemember deaths. Still, many others died in operations that did not make the front pages. During the Cold War, the Soviet Union and its Eastern European satellite states formed the Warsaw Pact. They were arrogant and belligerent, and they were backed by fearsome military strength, including massive nuclear arsenals. And they often stuck their noses into places where they should not have been, waiting for the U.S. to react to their incursions and deter their ambitions. And react we did, often in forsaken places few can point to on a map. Yet, our warriors were there, confronting the aptly named “evil empire,” and some of our nation’s best paid the price. As a former USAF fighter pilot who flew the F-4 Phantom II during the height of the Cold War, I personally know nine members of my flying units who were killed during routine operational missions in Europe and other places. When you operate a 25-ton aircraft flying low-level at 600 mph in mountainous terrain, deserts, or over the ocean, in bad weather, sometimes at night, sometimes in close proximity to the bad guys, where the operational tempo is critically high, deadly incidents occur. Please remember these folks, too. At First Liberty, we have a dedicated legal practice area focused on protecting servicemembers’ rights to practice their faith. This vital liberty is one that those in harm’s way rely upon to sustain them through dire moments, like the loss of their brothers and sisters in arms. We must protect our shared legacy of religious faith in our armed forces, the group that is at the vanguard of protecting our way of life. So, this Memorial Day, remember the legacy earned by all of those who served and died in defense of our rights—including those who gave all in those forgotten, less-public incidents. David Holmes is Executive Vice President and Chief Legacy Officer for First Liberty Institute and a former fighter pilot for the U.S. Air Force. We publish a variety of perspectives. Nothing written here is to be construed as representing the views of the Daily Signal. 

WASHINGTON, May 25 (Reuters) – U.S. President Donald Trump said on Monday it should be mandatory for countries including Qatar, Pakistan, Egypt, Jordan and Turkey to join the Abraham Accords en masse as part of an effort to reach a deal with Iran. Trump said he spoke on Saturday to leaders of those countries, as well as Saudi Arabia and Bahrain, which already has signed the accords, a set of agreements to normalize relations with Israel. “I stated that, after all the work done by the United States to try and pull this very complex puzzle together, it should be mandatory that all of these Countries, at a minimum, simultaneously, sign onto the Abraham Accords,” Trump wrote in a Truth Social post on Monday. President Trump gives an update on negotiations with Iran, says all countries involved in talks should be required to immediately sign the Abraham Accords and invites Iran to sign on if they make a deal. pic.twitter.com/WTfDeMVI8z— Benny Johnson (@bennyjohnson) May 25, 2026 He said those countries would be honored to have Iran as part of the accords once a deal to end the war is reached. Trump also said negotiations with Iran were “proceeding nicely” but gave no indication a deal was imminent.

Civil War history and heroic sacrifice will be commemorated this Memorial Day at famed battlefields like Gettysburg, Antietam, Fredericksburg, and Chancellorsville. But history was also made at places long lost to time. As you approach the scenic Patuxent River on Maryland’s Route 231 heading east, at the tiny town of Benedict, a gray historic marker is easy to miss. Miss it and miss a great story. Camp Stanton The marker records that near this spot, on what is now flat farmland along the water, sat for a brief period during the Civil War Camp Stanton. Named after Secretary of War Edwin Stanton, Camp Stanton was formed for the purpose of recruiting and training black soldiers from Maryland for the Union Army. Freemen, runaway slaves, even those still enslaved like William H. Coates, aged 18, and William B. Jones, aged 19, whose owner, George Peterson, agreed to let them join—for a price of $300. Together, these men were enlisted to form the 7th, 9th, 19th, and 30th United States Colored Infantry regiments, and over the ensuing months and brutal winter, they trained and drilled and prepared for the fight. Indeed, conditions were so rough that Camp Stanton would be shut down after only six months because so many soldiers were falling ill. Plus, the camp had done its job. All told, 8,718 men had trained at Camp Stanton and were ready for battle. The Story of Camp Stanton By January 1863, Stanton was desperate for more troops, and he and abolitionists in the North were urging President Abraham Lincoln to recruit black soldiers. In May, Lincoln relented. By October, Camp Stanton was established. Benedict was chosen because it provided water access for ships that could be used for recruitment in the Chesapeake Bay basin and eventually for transporting trained soldiers. Fortifying Benedict also meant the Union would have a military presence in a region with very heavy Confederate sympathies, the sight of Union blue helping discourage pro-Rebel activities. Maryland was a slave state, but by virtue of not having left the Union was not subjected to the Emancipation Proclamation. Not only did Camp Stanton serve as a recruitment facility, but runaway slaves made their way to the camp, hoping for help from the federal government. They were additionally looking to enlist. Also making his way to the camp was Maj. Alexander T. Augusta, the first African American to be commissioned as a medical officer in the Union Army. He would be the ranking medical officer of the four regiments at Camp Stanton, which upset the white medical officers to no end. They couldn’t touch Dr. Augusta’s medical skills, but they also couldn’t stomach being outranked by a black man either and pleaded with Lincoln in a letter to remove the good doctor. Although there’s no evidence Lincoln saw the letter, Augusta was transferred to the USCT camp in Baltimore to conduct physicals on black recruits, while still remaining regimental surgeon of the 7th Infantry. He’d never be permitted to join them in battle. He’d go on to become the first African American appointed to any medical college in the U.S. Other white officers at Camp Stanton had an entirely different attitude. Col. Samuel Chapman Armstrong volunteered to command the 9th Regiment. He saw leading—and educating—the Colored Troops as a sacred privilege, not a sacrifice. There was nothing he’d rather be doing than leading these men, he would later write. “This content, this almost supreme satisfaction has shed a rich glow upon my life.” To the Battlelines With training completed, the soldiers from Camp Stanton joined up with Union Army forces in Florida, South Carolina, and Virginia. The first troops to leave camp in March 1864 fought in the Battle of the Crater at Petersburg, Virginia, a crucial battle in the taking of the Confederate capital of Richmond. The 7th and 19th USCT also had a role in blocking Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee’s efforts to escape with his surviving troops. The 19th took part in the Battle of Appomattox Court House on the morning of April 9, 1865, helping thwart Lee’s last stand. That afternoon, with the Colored Troops of the 19th on hand to witness, Lee surrendered to Union Commanding General Ulysses S. Grant. The Civil War was over. After four bloody years. Approximately 360,000 Union soldiers died in the cause of freedom, be it from bullet or disease. According to the National Park Service, close to 40,000 were African Americans out of the 200,000 who served in the USCT. Black troops had a higher mortality rate than white soldiers, roughly 22.2% versus 15.2%. For example, the 19th suffered 294 deaths. The 7th USCT suffered 393 total deaths. Twenty-two alone perished at the Battle of Chaffin’s Farm on Sept. 29, 1864. Men like Pvts. John L. Nebbitt of St. Mary’s County, Emory Roizier of Queen Anne’s County, Josiah Hust of Kent County, and Joseph Haven of Calvert County. This Memorial Day we recognize their sacrifice, their “full measure of devotion,” and their role in winning the war—winning freedom for the blacks still toiling in slavery. Abraham Lincoln is said to have put it this way: “Without the military help of the black freedmen, the war against the South could not have been won.” A field in Benedict, Maryland, believed to be at or near the site of Camp Stanton during the Civil War. (Al Perrotta/The Daily Signal) We publish a variety of perspectives. Nothing written here is to be construed as representing the views of the Daily Signal.

BEDFORD, Pennsylvania—For the briefest of moments, a line of vintage Rolls-Royce automobiles chugged along the curving Cumberland Road. They passed over the Cumberland Run a handful of times and wound themselves down the mountains, away from Pennsylvania and toward the city of steeples, Cumberland. The sight gives the bystander a moment to imagine what it looked like in the early days of American road tripping. These 1922 Rolls-Royce vehicles, which included the New Phantom and the Silver Ghost (some of the first cars designed expressly to be owner-driven rather than chauffeured), were not what many Americans owned. But they help you understand what men like Henry Ford knew: No matter what class you fell in, everyone wanted the freedom and adventure that automobiles provided. The vintage convoy of luxury automobiles passing leisurely down the road exemplified just that. Just watching the joy the occupants had with their tops down, scarves flowing in the crisp mountain breeze, waving to farmers along the way, was a reminder that Americans still love their cars and road trips. They still do, more than 100 years after the first assembly line was introduced in 1913, and massive scaling made automobiles affordable to most people. Since the first American road, the Lincoln Highway, opened in 1913, Americans have found that their relationship with their nation and the roads that connect us north, south, east, and west is almost patriotic in concept. Whether you are on the road for hours or days, whether you stay in your home state or visit multiple others, there is a breadth of history, scenery, and experiences that connect all of us, whether we stay ensconced with our families in our cars or stay in campgrounds with a community fire ring, or at a motor lodge, or if you just take a day trip to the local state park. One of the most interesting things we could do this summer is take a road trip, large or small, to experience the country for the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence. This is exactly what Secretary of Transportation Sean Duffy, his wife, Rachel Compos-Duffy, and their nine children did in intervals of one- to three-day trips. They began with Independence Hall in Philadelphia, where the declaration was signed on Aug. 2, 1776. The road trip was turned into a five-part series, “The Great American Road Trip,” which will run on YouTube for free. Duffy said it was paid for by a nonprofit group of the same name and that no taxpayer dollars were spent on any of his family members. Sponsors for the project include Boeing, Royal Caribbean, Shell, Toyota, and United Airlines. All are economic engines for the tourism and travel industry that feed into the ecosystems of diners, national and state parks, bed-and-breakfasts, hotels, chain restaurants, and local tourist attractions. In an interview with the Washington Examiner, Duffy noted that no one in his family received a salary. Duffy said that road trips in his family were a great adventure, filled with awe, sibling fighting, and stays in campgrounds and motels. They began with his love of seeing the country from the ground at an early age. “When I was growing up, my parents would take us on road trips all the time, and we’d go to Florida, Arizona, California,” he said. As one of 11 children, Duffy said that one can imagine there were plenty of “Don’t make me turn this car around” and “Do you want to get out of this car and walk?” moments directed at the backseat. “Probably one of the most memorable trips, which at this point had just the bottom three or four of us siblings in the car with just Mom—Dad would fly to meet us there because of work—was to the Grand Canyon,” he began. “My mom, who was really athletic, decided that we should walk down to Phantom Ranch and then back up the same day. So, it was like 24 miles. And I think I was 12 at the time, my sister was 9 or 10, and my older brother was 15 or 16.” Duffy doesn’t mince words—it was a horrific trip. “We couldn’t walk the next day. And she had no money too. So, she bought us a couple Snicker bars, and we had water out of the pump well.” Still, the trip became a family legend. And the laughter and memories brought by telling and retelling it meant even more to him today, two years after his mother had passed. Duffy had fond memories of packed coolers, roadside oddities and games of “I spy” and counting red barns—things that he made his children do during this family road trip, much to their chagrin. “Some things never changed,” he said with a broad smile. For over 100 years, Americans have embraced their connection to the backroads and highways of the country, linking that adventurous spirit and wanderlust to the very basic concept of the country. It was, and is, audacious, bold, larger than anyone imagined, and filled with possibilities. “No better way to celebrate the country on our 250th year than getting out there and seeing it,” said Duffy, who began the ride from the White House lawn heading toward the city where the country was formed and 56 men made the bold decision to sign a declaration of separation from the crown—a decision that meant certain death for acts of treason if they failed. AAA is projecting a record-breaking summer travel season for our nation’s big birthday, with an estimated 39.1 million Americans taking road trips for the Memorial Day holiday alone. The auto club, formed in 1902, was established by nine independent motor clubs advocating safer paved roads at a time when only 23,000 cars existed in the U.S. Today, there are around 300 million registered vehicles in the U.S., with AAA forecasting that Americans driving them will take 700 million trips this summer, the overwhelming majority opting to drive to their destinations. And this is happening despite drivers facing rising gas prices as the summer travel season approaches. AAA reports that the national average price for regular gasoline is $4.53 per gallon. Duffy is sensitive to that burden and suggests that you don’t have to go far from home, perhaps 60 miles or less in any direction, to get that bonding with your family (messy fights and all), a taste of local history that you may have missed, and a refresher of your understanding of the region you call home. “My motto is: ‘To love America is to see America.’ Hit the road, go see your country. It’s beautiful. But you don’t have to go far; sometimes the best adventures aren’t far from home,” he said. “If expenses don’t allow for a two-day trip, you could do a two-hour trip, and there’s probably places that you haven’t been [that are] two hours from your home. Whether it’s a campsite, a river, some cool part of the country where you live that you could go do that with your family. And you can go for the day, you could camp and stay overnight, which means that could fit any budget,” Duffy observed. “I think to lean into America is to get off the screen, see your country through the window, and [do it] with your family. And if you get off the freeway, then you get to visit the little diner or the little town that you’ll come across and rediscover, and contribute to, what makes us exceptional.” Duffy said that on the handful of one- to two-day trips his family made over a seven-month span to 11 different states, he also added work stops such as visiting air traffic control towers and assessing port infrastructure, among other infrastructure projects. His biggest takeaway? “How unique we are. We’re so diverse. We have so much culture and so much beauty that it should be explored—just go see your country through your windshield. Open the heart up, roll the window down, and enjoy it,” he said. Seeing the country through fresh eyes can center you on what we have in common, he said. “Oftentimes it’s the places that are closest to us that we don’t go see. … You could travel a couple hours away from where you live and see something that’s amazing that you’ve never seen before.” Duffy said that while all nine of his children didn’t do it all at the same time, there were still plenty of “I spy with my little eye” games that went down. He just lost count. “I also lost count of the fights. By the way, they fight, just like we did,” he said while laughing. “Years from now, those fights will be part of great stories we will tell about how we took little family road trips together the year that our country turned 250.” COPYRIGHT 2026 CREATORS.COM We publish a variety of perspectives. Nothing written here is to be construed as representing the views of the Daily Signal.