Enjoy the following excerpts of recent messages from Pope Leo XIV, courtesy of the November edition of the “Fully Present” newsletter from the Vatican Dicastery for Communications.
—“Instead of being tourists on the web, be prophets in the digital world!” — Addressing students during the Jubilee of the World of Education Oct. 30:
“Do not let the algorithm write your story! Be the authors yourselves; use technology wisely, but do not let technology use you. Artificial intelligence is also a great novelty — one of the rerum novarum, or ‘new things,’ of our time. However, it is not enough to be ‘intelligent’ in virtual reality; we must also treat one another humanely, nurturing emotional, spiritual, social and ecological intelligence. Therefore, I say to you: learn to humanize the digital, building it as a space of fraternity and creativity — not a cage where you lock yourselves in, not an addiction or an escape.”
Find Bishop Burbidge’s 10 suggestions for sharing the joy of the Gospel in his pastoral letter “In Tongues All Can Hear: Communicating the Hope of Chris in Times of Trial.” Be sure to also follow @arlingtonchurch on Facebook, Instagram, X, and YouTube, and consider sharing what content inspires you with your friends and family.
—“(E)xperiences of lived synodality overcome the barriers of the self and encourage young people to become effective members of the family of Jesus Christ.” — Addressing members of the International Youth Advisory Body Oct. 31:
“(I)n recent years many young people have approached the faith through social media, successful programs and popular online Christian witnesses. The danger is that a faith discovered online is limited to individual experiences, which may be intellectually and emotionally reassuring, but are never ‘embodied.’ Such experiences remain ‘disembodied,’ detached from the ‘ecclesial body.’ Nor are they lived alongside others in real-life situations, relationships or sharing. … In this sense, experiences of lived synodality overcome the barriers of the self and encourage young people to become effective members of the family of Jesus Christ. They allow us to “live the faith together and to show our love by living in community and sharing with other young people our affection, our time, our faith and our troubles.”
Learn more about the many ways synodality is being lived out right here in our diocese.
—“The Church therefore calls all builders of AI to cultivate moral discernment as a fundamental part of their work — to develop systems that reflect justice, solidarity, and a genuine reverence for life.” — Addressing participants in the Builders AI Forum Nov. 7:
“I wish to note that artificial intelligence, like all human invention, springs from the creative capacity that God has entrusted to us (cf. Antiqua et Nova, 37). This means that technological innovation can be a form of participation in the divine act of creation. As such, it carries an ethical and spiritual weight, for every design choice expresses a vision of humanity.”
Human kindness and mutual care can never be replaced by technology. Read how one Arlington pastor reflected on the Holy Father’s remarks on artificial intelligence earlier this year.
—“(Education) is, in itself, a vital exercise in safeguarding human originality and connectedness, which must always be guided by respect for human dignity as a fundamental value.” — Addressing participants in the conference The Dignity of Children And Adolescents in the Age of Artificial Intelligence Nov. 13:
“What is needed are daily, ongoing educational efforts, carried out by adults who themselves are trained and supported by networks of collaboration. This process involves understanding the risks that both the use of AI and premature, unlimited and unsupervised digital access may pose to the relationships and development of young people. Only by taking part in the discovery of such risks and the effects on their personal and social life, can minors be supported in approaching the digital world as a means of strengthening their ability to make responsible choices for themselves and for others.”
Seek education in our own diocese and consider attending “Parenting in a Digital Age” by Deacon Marques Silva at St. Patrick Church in Fredericksburg Jan. 10.
Brodeur is the diocesan director of content and marketing strategy.
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