Anthropic’s ongoing engagement with Vatican-linked Catholic ethicists since late 2025, including input on Claude’s constitutional principles and private discussions about model interpretability and potential consciousness, underpins current trader sentiment around another substantive bilateral meeting. The May 2026 Vatican event featuring co-founder Christopher Olah at Pope Leo XIV’s encyclical launch on Magnifica Humanitas marked the most visible collaboration, yet recent New York Times reporting highlights post-event lobbying by Olah’s team that failed to shift the document’s rejection of AI moral status or sentience. This mix of sustained ethics dialogue, Anthropic’s safety-focused positioning relative to peers, and unresolved philosophical differences creates uncertainty, with resolution hinging on any confirmed in-person follow-ups before year-end deadlines amid the Church’s broader AI outreach.