Pope Leo XIV exposed the vision of his papacy on Saturday, identifier artificial intelligence As one of the most critical questions faced by humanity and promising to pursue some of the fundamental priorities of Pope Francis.
In his first official audience, Leo has repeatedly quoted Francis and the own mission statement of the 2013 Argentinian Pope, which makes it clear to make a commitment to make More inclusive Catholic churchattentive to the faithful and a church which watches over “less and rejected”.
Leo, the First American popetold the cardinals who elected him that he was fully attached to the reforms of the Council of the Second Vatican, the meetings of the 1960s who modernized the Church. He identified AI as one of the main problems with which humanity is confronted, affirming that it poses challenges to the defense of human dignity, justice and work.
In another clue of his priorities, the Vatican revealed that Leo, a member of the Augustinian religious order, would retain the motto and the coat of arms he had as a Bishop of Chiclayo, Peru. The motto, “in illelo unum”, was pronounced by Saint-Augustin in a sermon to explain that “although we Christians are numerous, in one of the Christ, we are one”.
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Leo referred to the AI by explaining the Choice of his name: His namesake, Pope Leo XIII, was the pope from 1878 to 1903 and laid the foundations for modern Catholic social thinking. He did it the most famous with his rerum Novarum encyclical in 1891, which approached workers’ rights and capitalism at the dawn of the industrial era. The late Pope criticized both the capitalism of a faire and socialism centered on the state, giving the form of a clearly Catholic vein of economic education.
In his remarks on Saturday, Leo said that he had identified himself with his predecessor, which was addressed to the big social question of the day posed by the industrial revolution in the encyclical.
“In our time, the Church offers all the treasure of its social teaching in response to another industrial revolution and developments in the field of artificial intelligence which poses new challenges for the defense of human dignity, justice and work,” he said.
Towards the end of his pontificate, Francis has become more and more vocal On the threats to humanity posed by AI and called on an international treaty to regulate it.
He warned that such powerful technological risks transforming human relationships into simple algorithms. Francis transmitted his message to the group of seven industrialized nations when he approached their summit last year, the insistence of AI must remain centered on man so that decisions at the time of using weapons or even less lethal tools are always taken by humans and not machines.
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The late Argentinian pope also used his 2024 Message of annual peace To call for an international treaty to ensure that AI is developed and used ethically, arguing that a technology without human values of compassion, mercy, morality and forgiveness is too perilous to develop without control.
Francis saw in many ways the original Augustinian missionary of Chicago, Robert Prevost, like an apparent heir: he pushed him to take over a small Peruvian diocese in 2014, where Prévost later became bishop and chief of the Conference of Bishops of the Vatican, then called it to Rome for 2023.
In the speech, pronounced in Italian in the Vatican Synod room – not the apostolic palace – Leo made repeated references to Francis and mourning on his death. He resisted Francis’ mission statement at the start of his 2013 pontificate, “the joy of the Gospel”, as something of his own walking orders, suggesting that he has the intention of continuing Francis’s priorities.
He cited Francis’ insistence on the missionary nature of the Church and the need to make his leadership more collegial. He cited the need to pay attention to the fact that the faithful say “in particular in its most authentic and inclusive forms, especially popular piety”. Once again, referring to Francis’ mission statement in 2013, Leo quoted the need for the Church to express the “affectionate care to say the least and the least rejected” and to initiate a courageous dialogue with the contemporary world.
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Welcomed by a standing ovation when entering, Leo has read his prepared text, looking up until occasionally. Even when he appeared for the first time in the world on the loggia of the Saint-Pierre basilica Thursday evening, Leo read from a prepared and handwritten text that he had to recover a little before his historic elections or the time approximately. He seemed most comfortable, speaking out of the blow in the few words he said in Spanish.
Louis Prevost told CBS News That his younger brother always had a call to religion.
“Rob liked to play the priest,” said Louis Prevost. “We say” let’s play cops and thieves “, and he would be like:” I want to play priest first. »»
Prévost was elected Thursday 267th pontif Exceptionally fast result Since it was the largest and most geographically diversified conclave in history and all the cardinals did not know each other before arriving in Rome.
The cardinals said that Prévost had made no major speeches during pre-contractual discussions, and he carried the traditional taboo in the United States in the Conclave, given the status of American superpower. But Prevost was already known to many of them given his decades as a missionary and then bishop in Peru, and was the head of the Vatican bishops since 2023.
They said he had made an impression in small groups where English was the key language of communication in a conclave which brought together 133 cardinals from 70 countries.
Cardinal Madagascar, the desired Tsarahazana, told journalists on Saturday that during the final ballot, Prevost had received “more” than 100 votes. This suggests an extraordinary margin, far beyond two thirds, or 89 votes, necessary to be elected.