Encyclical’s 224 references: Tolkien, Frankl, Montessori, etc.

One of the most notable citations in Magnifica humanitas comes from British author J.R.R. Tolkien (1892–1973) — or more accurately, from Gandalf, the legendary wizard in The Lord of the Rings trilogy. To emphasize that everyone must act according to their own ability, the pope quotes the wizard’s words of wisdom to Frodo, the ring-bearer who feels discouraged by the magnitude of his task: “It is not our part to master all the tides of the world, but to do what is in us for the succor of those years wherein we are set, uprooting the evil in the fields that we know, so that those who live after may have clean earth to till.”

The Pontiff also refers to Austrian psychiatrist Viktor Frankl (1905–1997), the founder of “logotherapy,” which focuses on the search for meaning in life. The encyclical borrows the conclusion of a book by this Holocaust survivor, asserting that during humanity's darkest hours, “we have come to know man as he really is. After all, man is that being who invented the gas chambers of Auschwitz; however, he is also that being who entered those gas chambers upright, with the Lord’s Prayer or the Shema Yisrael on his lips.”

Magnifica humanitas also evokes another prominent Jewish figure who witnessed the dark rise of Nazism before emigrating to the United States: political theorist Hannah Arendt (1906–1975). Known for her insights into the “banality of evil,” she also held a doctorate on St. Augustine. The pope draws on her work regarding totalitarianism to explain that those most susceptible to ideological systems are “people for whom the distinction between fact and fiction (i.e., the reality of experience) and the distinction between true and false (i.e., the standards of thought) no longer exist.”

Throughout the pages, Leo XIV highlights cultural and artistic works that “have taken on an almost prophetic significance.” In music, he views Beethoven's Ninth Symphony as an expression of a “desire for unity.” In painting, he considers Picasso's Guernica a “denunciation of dehumanization.” Finally, in cinema, he points to Steven Spielberg’s film Schindler's List as “a call not to consign the past to oblivion.”

In addition to referencing the United Nations Charter, which aims to “save succeeding generations from the scourge of war,” the pontiff honors individuals who changed the course of history by fighting for human dignity. He praises “the testimony of Martin Luther King Jr., or the end of apartheid in South Africa following the release of Nelson Mandela and his decision not to surrender the future to hatred.”

Magnifica humanitas highlights a list of “courageous and generous” women who helped make “history more humane.” This includes two saints — St. Laura Montoya and St. Teresa of Calcutta — as well as women from other faiths and backgrounds. The Pope chooses to remember American Catholic activist Dorothy Day, Franco-Polish agnostic physicist Marie Skłodowska-Curie, Italian educator Maria Montessori, American Evangelical missionary Elisabeth Elliot, Kenyan environmental activist Wangari Maathai, and Pakistani Muslim politician Benazir Bhutto.

The encyclical calls upon Greek philosopher Plato (427–347 BC) to warn against the consequences of instant gratification in AI-driven education. “As Plato wrote,” the Pope notes, “the deepest and most important things are learned only after much time and effort, by engaging in discussion with others, ‘striking upon’ ideas and experiences together like flint until the spark of understanding is kindled within us.”

Like Pope Francis, who considered him a major influence, Leo XIV quotes German theologian and philosopher Romano Guardini (1885–1968), reviving his warning: “Contemporary man has not been trained to use power well.” He also mentions the former mayor of Florence, Giorgio La Pira (1904–1977), who advocated for “the method of negotiation, of encounter, of convergence, that is, the authentically human method!”

One French author is also mentioned among the inspirations of the 267th pope: Cardinal Pierre de Bérulle (1575–1629), founder of the Oratory and father of the French School of Spirituality. Leo XIV also draws from two great theologians of the Catholic Church: St. Thomas Aquinas (1225–1274) and St. Augustine (354–430), his spiritual master, who's cited four times. Among the Catholic figures, he names several martyrs — Polish Franciscan St. Maximilian Kolbe, Salvadoran St. Oscar Romero, and Argentine Bishop Enrique Angelelli — alongside Vietnamese Cardinal François-Xavier Nguyễn Văn Thuận.

Furthermore, addressing the precarious nature of employment, the American pontiff gives the floor to the United States bishops to affirm that “work is not merely a source of income but a crucial sphere in which identity is formed, friendships and relationships are forged, practical responsibilities are learned and one’s vocation is discerned.”

In this document, adding his voice to the social teachings of the popes, Leo XIV refers extensively to his recent predecessors who have reflected on these themes, starting with Leo XIII. The most cited pope in the footnotes of Magnifica humanitas is undoubtedly Francis, with 55 occurrences. He's followed by St. John Paul II, whom the text calls upon 39 times, and Benedict XVI, cited 18 times.

St. Paul VI is also mentioned 16 times, followed by St. John XXIII (three times), Pius XII (three times), and Pius XI (once). Leo XIII, whose name the 267th pope adopted, appears in three footnotes but is described as the pioneer of modern Catholic social teaching. The Second Vatican Council is also among the sources feeding the text, with around 15 mentions recorded, alongside the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith.

Finally, to emphasize the Church’s need to undertake a reform toward “a culture of transparency, accountability, and evaluation,” Leo XIV echoes the Synod on the Future of the Church. This massive project, opened by his predecessor to make the Church more inclusive, is now permanently etched into an encyclical.