What does the Church say about artificial intelligence?
In February 2020, the Pontifical Academy for Life held the ‘RenAIssance: For a Human-centric Artificial Intelligence’ conference in Rome, where tech giants such as IBM and Microsoft signed the Rome Call for AI Ethics – a document pledging an ethical approach to AI. In a message for the conference, Pope Francis made his first remarks about AI, saying such technologies pose “grave risks” but also have “immense potential” to “bear good fruits”.
As AI technology developed and interest in it grew exponentially, Pope Francis became an increasingly vocal proponent of the need to develop policies and regulations that would keep AI at the service of humanity.
In March 2023, he spoke on AI to a group of technology leaders, encouraging them to “make the intrinsic dignity of every man and every woman the key criterion in evaluating emerging technologies; these will prove ethically sound to the extent that they help respect that dignity and increase its expression at every level of human life”.
The Pope’s message for the 2024 World Day of Peace, released in December 2023, focussed on AI and allowed the Holy Father to more deeply explore some of his concerns regarding the use of AI technology. The message specifically addressed the potential for AI to be used in the development of autonomous weapon systems, and the challenges it poses to education, employment and communication.
Perhaps the Church’s most significant contribution to the AI discussion came in June 2024, when Pope Francis spoke to world leaders at the G7 Summit. It was also the first time a pope had attended the G7 meeting in its 50-year history.
In his address, Pope Francis described AI as “an exciting and fearsome tool”, which, like all man-made tools, will bring about harm or benefit depending upon how it is used. “It is up to everyone to make good use of it but the onus is on politics to create the conditions for such good use to be possible and fruitful,” he told the leaders.
In response to these sustained calls for an ethical use of AI, Vatican City State developed a range of regulatory guidelines which came into effect at the beginning of 2025. The guidelines “aim to establish ethical and legal principles that place dignity and human rights at the centre, to ensure that artificial intelligence is used to promote social well-being and reduce the risk of injustice and abuse”.
The guidelines provide a glimpse into some of the risks and dangers that the Church sees in AI, listing a range of bans on the use of AI that:
- cause discrimination;
- harm individuals physically or psychologically through subliminal manipulation;
- exclude people with disabilities;
- create social inequalities;
- demean human dignity;
- violate fundamental human rights;
- compromise Vatican City State security and public order;
- encourage criminal conduct; and
- conflict with "the mission of the pope, the integrity of the Catholic Church and the proper operation" of the Vatican entities overseen by the governor's office[i].
The guidelines also specify particular rules for certain offices, such as “mandating that all texts, music, photos, audiovisual and radio content that have used AI systems and models in their creation or reproduction be labelled with the acronym AI”.
In January 2025, the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith and the Dicastery for Culture and Education co-authored a doctrinal note, Antiqua et Nova, which expanded upon many of Pope Francis’ previous statements on AI.
In his first two addresses in May 2025 – one to the College of Cardinals and one to the international media – Pope Leo XIV briefly mentioned artificial intelligence, demonstrating an awareness that the development of the technology may be the defining moral and ethical challenge for the world in the coming years. While the future of AI is unknown, what is certain is that the Church will continue to monitor its development closely and strongly advocate for governments, organisations and individuals to ensure AI is used in a way that upholds human dignity.
Antiqua et Nova
Many of the issues highlighted by Pope Francis were explored in greater detail in the January 2025 doctrinal note, Antiqua et Nova, co-authored by the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith and the Dicastery for Culture and Education.
The document is a comprehensive exploration of artificial intelligence and how it is affecting, and may affect, individuals and society, especially in the moral and spiritual realms.
Outside of its introduction and conclusion, Antiqua et Nova is divided into four main sections:
- What is Artificial Intelligence?
- Intelligence in the Philosophical and Theological Tradition
- The Role of Ethics in Guiding the Development and Use of AI
- Specific Questions
Prior to diving into the topic, the document first demonstrates how science and technological advancement are indeed good in themselves when used to glorify God. They are part of life, and part of human development.
The first section then begins by outlining what exactly artificial intelligence is and how it has developed over time, arguing that the “intelligence” offered by AI is not on the same level as human intelligence: “AI’s advanced features give it sophisticated abilities to perform tasks, but not the ability to think.” Human intelligence is based on far more than computational data, and the unique physical experiences that a human has provide individuals with a level of intelligence that cannot be replicated in a machine. Human intelligence, the document states, “is shaped by embodied experiences, including sensory input, emotional responses, social interactions, and the unique context of each moment”, making it “fundamentally different” to the so-called intelligence of AI’s computational abilities, which “represent only a fraction of the broader capacities of the human mind”. In this way, Antiqua et Nova very clearly distinguishes the two and raises human intelligence to a level far surpassing that which AI could ever reach: “No device, working solely with data, can measure up to these and countless other experiences present in our lives.” After all, AI is simply a “product” of human intelligence.
The document gives a brief but accurate explanation of the technology and what it can do, stating that “one of the goals of this technology is to imitate the human intelligence that designed it.” It goes on to highlight the importance of carefully studying and learning about AI, inviting parents, teachers, pastors and bishops to “dedicate themselves to this critical subject with care and attention.”
The second section of Antiqua et Nova reflects on the Church’s understanding of intelligence and knowledge over time, so as to juxtapose this understanding with what AI pretends to be able to offer.
In the third section, the importance of developing ethical guidelines for the use of AI is explored. The underlying principle, the document asserts, should be a commitment to ensuring “AI always supports and promotes the supreme value of the dignity of every human being and the fullness of the human vocation”. The document acknowledges the difficulty in determining who is responsible when AI misfires, but suggests that there is a type of shared responsibility between the developer or architect behind the specific application and the end user. Both parties play a role in determining what the AI produces.
The last section provides a brief glimpse into the role of AI in various fields of life, such as work, education, healthcare and human relationships, offering some examples of ways in which it could be used for good and then highlighting the many areas of risk and concern when AI is misused. It’s interesting to note that the negative uses of AI listed in each section far outweigh the positive uses.
There is a sense of caution in this last section of the document, evident with the long list of risks posed by AI. Antiqua et Nova refers to previous uses that humanity has made of technological advances, suggesting that if history is any guide, we can be fairly sure that, at some point, there will be a major, catastrophic misuse of AI technology: “The atrocities committed throughout history are enough to raise deep concerns about the potential abuses of AI.” The document’s conclusion mentions the possibility of AI (and technology in general) becoming a false god for humanity; another idol of worship which is, in essence, humanity’s deification of itself.
The document also refers a couple of times to ‘AGI’ – an acronym for artificial general intelligence – which some researchers are seeking to develop, in the belief that AGI could produce a level of intelligence superior to human intelligence. Without exploring this area in depth, Antiqua et Nova refers to it as a possible evolution of AI technology that would be highly problematic.
Read Antiqua et Nova here.
Implications for evangelisation
When the AI-based application ChatGPT rose to prominence in early 2023, one of the first questions people in the Church asked was ‘Will priests start using ChatGPT to write homilies?’
With its capacity to instantaneously trawl through myriads of data and information, AI could certainly be an aid to clergy in preparing their homilies. But, if used incorrectly or relied upon too heavily, it could also lead to confusion and misrepresentations of key Church teachings.
In 2024, Sydney Auxiliary Bishop Richard Umbers told the NCE: “ChatGPT is terrible for homilies; it’s OK for research. In general, it will be quite orthodox, but like anything, when you try to preach, you have to make it your own. Otherwise, you might be erudite, but you’ll be boring, and you’ll fail to move.”
This limitation of AI is especially noted in Antiqua et Nova, which emphasises AI’s lack of a personal touch. A machine or a computer can never fully replicate the complex workings of the human heart, and so if one were to rely upon AI-generated content for a homily, it may be intelligent but would lack the necessary emotion, sensitivity and thoughtfulness that can only be provided by a human.
That being said, AI can still have a useful role to play in the Church’s evangelising mission.
Developed in mid-2023, the US-based application Magisterium AI is a great example of how the Church can utilise the technology. It works by only using Magisterial documents (such as the Catechism, Canon Law and Papal Encyclicals) and foundational scholarly works (such as the Bible, writings of Church Fathers and Doctors of the Church) to answer questions asked by users, with its database at May 2025 including more than 26,000 documents. It is a helpful tool for both forming Catholics and informing those exploring the faith, providing responses to questions about Church teaching, ethics and morals. Answers that Magisterium AI provides to questions submitted also include clear references to the source documents, giving it much greater reliability than other AI chatbots.
According to its website, the founders of Magisterium AI are well aware that it can only be a tool for evangelisation, a part of the process rather than the complete thing:
“[Magisterium AI] is intended to aid understanding, not replace essential human elements of faith. Always prioritise engaging with the Sacraments, participating in the life of the Church, consulting knowledgeable individuals (priests, spiritual directors, teachers), and reading primary sources like the Catechism and Sacred Scripture directly. Magisterium AI should supplement, not substitute, these vital aspects of Catholic life and learning.”[ii]
So while AI technology cannot accompany a person on their faith journey, it can provide them with factual answers to their questions, and in that way, potentially fast-track an individual’s intellectual journey to the faith. The interior journey that takes place, a journey of the heart, can only occur in God’s time and with his grace. Knowledge and information may help move the intellect, but the complete journey to faith requires much more.
In this sense, then, perhaps the capacity of AI to provide information quickly will serve to do two things in the process of evangelisation:
- It will help to highlight and reinforce the fact that no journey of faith can take place via knowledge alone.
- It will help parishes and individuals to focus on their task of witnessing to their faith and accompanying seekers on their journey. Instead of spending hours preparing resources, workbooks, or information packs, sacramental coordinators may have more time to spend connecting with seekers in-person.
Like other tools of technology, AI has a great potential to be a helpful aid in the task of evangelisation, provided users are aware of its limitations and can mitigate them sufficiently.
Further Reading
AI Ethics: An Abrahamic commitment to the Rome Call (10 January, 2023)
Message of Pope Francis for the 57th World Day of Peace (1 January, 2024)
Message for the 58th World Day of Social Communications - Artificial Intelligence and the Wisdom of the Heart: Towards a Fully Human Communication (24 January, 2024)
Antiqua et Nova: Note on the Relationship Between Artificial Intelligence and Human Intelligence (Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith, Dicastery for Culture and Education, 14 January, 2025)
Cautiously hopeful: The Church on AI (NCE, 3 June, 2025)
AI in education: Balancing innovation and ethics in Australian classrooms (Catholic Voice, 2 April, 2025)
Embracing artificial intelligence through faith (NCE, 7 February, 2024)
Delving into the relationship between AI and humanity (Archdiocese of Hobart, 13 December, 2023)
The Episcopal Podcast: AI and Personhood (Part 1, July 2023)
The Episcopal Podcast: AI and Personhood (Part 2, March 2024)
[i] https://www.usccb.org/news/2025/vatican-city-state-puts-ai-guidelines-place
