One hundred and thirty-five years after the release of Rerum Novarum by his namesake, Pope Leo XIII, the Holy Father has invited the Church into dialogue with the “new things” of our era. As the subtitle of this new Encyclical indicates, this is not strictly a document on artificial intelligence, but on the challenges facing the human person in this age of artificial intelligence. In doing so, he squarely places the focus on the human person and “the dignity that belongs to every human being simply by virtue of existing, of having been willed, created and loved by God,” (52).

As the Holy Father states in the opening paragraphs of the Encyclical: “In the era of artificial intelligence, when human dignity is threatened by new forms of dehumanization, ours is the pressing duty to remain profoundly human. We must lovingly safeguard the grandeur of humanity, bestowed upon us and revealed in its fullness in Christ, the splendor of which no machine can ever replace,” (15). With this call in mind, Pope Leo encourages Catholics and all people of good will to make the choice to use these new technologies in ways consistent with human dignity, for the sake of building up the human person and fostering greater fraternity among peoples.

It is my heartfelt desire that this task would be taken up throughout the five counties of our Diocese, so that we would be “builders of communion, rather than architects of Bable… servants of the coming Kingdom, instead of lords of towers destined for ruin,” (16). As we prayerfully reflect on our Holy Fathers words, may we be united in this important work of proclaiming the perennial truth of Jesus Christ amid the “new things” we face today.

Most Reverend Gregory L. Parkes
Bishop of the Diocese of Saint Petersburg