---
title: Pope Leo XIV Warns Against Social Media Hatred in New Encyclical
url: https://www.faithfulnews.com/en/pope-leo-xiv-warns-against-social-media-hatred-in-new-encyclical
published: 2026-10-24T16:50:58+00:00
language: en
section: World Church
source: https://www.cnbb.org.br/o-grito-do-papa-contra-o-veneno-presente-nas-redes-sociais/
organizations: CNBB
publisher: FaithfulNews
---

# Pope Leo XIV Warns Against Social Media Hatred in New Encyclical

Pope Leo XIV has issued a warning regarding the poison found within social networks in his first encyclical, titled Magnifica Humanitas. The Pope states that humanity faces a critical choice between building a new tower of Babel or creating a city where God and humans live together.

Referencing the biblical story of the tower of Babel from Genesis 11, 1 to 9, the Pontiff describes a civilization attempted through human effort alone. He notes that this project was driven by unlimited confidence in human reason, technical ability, and personal interpretations of history, which ultimately led to the confusion of languages and the abandonment of the tower as a symbol of human arrogance.

The Pope suggests that while the internet offers infinite possibilities for global development, it also risks repeating the Babel episode. He observes that as internet opportunities increase, mutual understanding between people seems to decrease, specifically citing social networks as evidence of this trend.

The text highlights a growing global phenomenon of polarization where groups use social media to defend their own reality and attack opposing views. This is particularly evident in politics, where the resulting confusion and hatred act as a poison. This intoxication prevents constructive dialogue and leads individuals to seek more of the same anger, believing it to be the truth.

Comparisons are made to century old or millennial hatreds in regions such as the Middle East, where poisonous hatreds were planted across generations. The Pope expresses concern that similar conditions are being prepared in the current national context, questioning if the hatred distilled on social networks will cease regardless of who holds power.

There is a expressed fear that children and adolescents are being poisoned by current extremisms, potentially leading to social conflicts and fratricidal wars. The Pope argues that those contaminated by these ideologies must stop consuming this poison to detoxify. He calls for the dismantling of mechanisms that generate towers of Babel through actions of pacification, citing the teaching of Jesus to love enemies as the antidote to hatred.