UNESCO will host Pope Leo XIV at its Paris headquarters on 25 September 2026. Director-General Khaled El-Enany invited him for a day of talks on artificial intelligence and education. The visit will also cover information integrity, meaning the accuracy and reliability of online information. Young people, artists and researchers will join a morning forum. The Pope will give a keynote address in the afternoon.
The visit is the first papal trip to UNESCO in more than 40 years. Pope John Paul II last visited the organization in 1980. UNESCO and the Holy See, the central government of the Catholic Church, will sign an agreement to strengthen cooperation on AI. The Pope's encyclical, a formal church letter, is called Magnifica Humanitas. It urges leaders to protect young people's freedom of thought as technology advances quickly.