ISTANBUL

Pope Leo XIV urged the Catholic Church to respond to artificial intelligence (AI) developments in his first formal speech to the College of Cardinals, the Vatican News reported.

The pope shared the inspiration behind his chosen name, stating that it reflects the Church’s "enduring" dedication to human dignity and social justice,

“Pope Leo XIII, with the historic Encyclical Rerum Novarum, addressed the social question in the context of the first great industrial revolution,” he said. "Today, the Church offers to all her treasure of social teaching in response to another industrial revolution and the developments of artificial intelligence.”

The Vatican said Tuesday that American Cardinal Robert Prevost had been elected as the new Pope, taking the name Leo XIV.

He is the first American-born pontiff in the history of the Catholic Church.