(PARIS) -- Pope Leo XIV began a four-day visit to France on Friday, meeting with President Emmanuel Macron and cautioning against allowing technological developments to come at the expense of human life.
Leo, who is making the first official papal visit to France in nearly two decades, spoke at the Élysée Palace before nearly 500 guests. He identified artificial intelligence as one of the major challenges facing humanity and reiterated the Catholic Church's opposition to assisted dying and surrogacy.
"When science and technology are not guided by consciousness, it can offer immediate solutions that seem to alleviate human suffering, but it can lead them astray," said Leo.
Macron added, "In the face of the power of digital technology, human beings must retain their rightful place. Artificial intelligence must be a servant, not a master. The digital revolution must liberate, not enslave."
The papal visit comes after years of reported loss in public support for the church and recent challenges to its stance on ethical life issues like assisted death, which was recently legalized by the French parliament.
Although the French government is completely secular, Catholicism is still the dominant religion in France. Under a third of the French population identifies as Catholic and religious disaffiliation has been on the rise over the past decade, according to the National Statistics Bureau of France. However, the country has seen a surge in adult baptisms in recent years, according to national statistics.
At the presidential palace, Leo said he was "concerned at times by those trends in society that risk turning science and technology into profit-driven ventures promoting genetic manipulation, surrogacy, the trade in human organs or the possibility of arranging one's own death."
Leo continued his visit with a speech at the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization headquarters in Paris before holding a prayer service at the Notre-Dame Cathedral. Leo is the first pope to visit the cathedral since a 2019 fire engulfed the landmark. The cathedral reopened in September 2025 after years of restoration.
The pope will conclude his visit in the northeastern city of Metz where he will hold an interfaith dialogue and celebrate Mass before returning to Rome.
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