Why Pope Leo Selected His Name: AI, Labor Rights, and the New Industrial Revolution

Newly elected Pope Leo XIV, Cardinal Robert F. Prevost of the U.S., appears on the balcony of St. Peter’s Basilica at the Vatican, May 8, 2025. Dylan Martinez | Reuters

Pope Leo XIV said Saturday that he selected his papal name in part to honor Pope Leo XIII for his commitment to social issues and workers’ rights during the industrial revolution. Leo noted that the world now faces new challenges to workers’ rights — and to humanity more broadly — due to the rise of artificial intelligence.

“In our own day, the Church offers everyone the treasury of its social teaching in response to another industrial revolution and to developments in the field of artificial intelligence that pose new challenges for the defense of human dignity, justice, and labor,” said the American pontiff, who was known as Cardinal Robert Prevost prior to his election by a Vatican conclave on Thursday.

Leo’s remarks provided one of the earliest indications of his vision for leadership and priorities as head of the Roman Catholic Church. He also suggested during his first meeting with cardinals since his election that he would continue the late Pope Francis’ commitment to social justice.

“It has been clearly seen in the example of so many of my predecessors, and most recently by Pope Francis himself, with his example of complete dedication to service and to sober simplicity of life, his abandonment to God throughout his ministry and his serene trust at the moment of his return to the Father’s house,” he said.

Francis, who served as pope for 12 years, often faced criticism from some conservative cardinals who claimed he was diluting the Church’s doctrine on issues such as LGBT Catholics and women’s leadership.

Pope Leo XIII, the partial inspiration for the new pope’s name, was elected in 1878 and played a significant role in the Catholic Church’s social teaching, particularly regarding the rights of workers and the working class. Leo XIV is the first American pontiff of the Catholic Church.

Reuters contributed to this report.