Medical AI and Human Dignity: A Catholic Normative Ethical Framework in Light of Magnifica Humanitas.

Artificial intelligence (AI) is rapidly reshaping healthcare through advances in prediction and personalization, yet these developments also raise questions that are not merely technical but also are moral and religious. This article offers a normative framework for Catholic engagement with medical AI in light of Leo XIV's Magnifica Humanitas (2026). Drawing on the encyclical's critique of the "Babel Syndrome," we argue that medical AI is dehumanizing in two principal ways: first, through an idolatry of optimization that reduces the person to a data source; and second, through an illusion of algorithmic perfection that treats vulnerability and finitude as technical defects to be overcome. In response, we propose a roadmap grounded in Catholic social teaching and structured around three principles: non-substitution, algorithmic transparency and accountability, and solidarity with the preferential option for the poor. We further show how these principles deepen and reinterpret the bioethical principles of autonomy, beneficence and non-maleficence, and justice in AI-mediated care. Finally, we draw out concrete implications for healthcare institutions and relevant stakeholders. Rather than rejecting AI, we argue that Catholic healthcare ethics should further uphold the alignment of technological innovation to the dignity of the human person, the common good, and the healing vocation of medicine.