Pope Leo has banned priests from using AI to write sermons – and warned that smartphones are making young people lonely
After delivering his address to the clergy of the Diocese of Rome on Thursday, Pope Leo XIV took part in a question-and-answer session with four priests from different age groups chosen to ask questions.
In response to one parish priest’s question about how to be effective in this postmodern culture while avoiding returning to ‘anachronistic’ approaches, the pope laid out his beliefs on AI.
The 70-year-old Pope said the first step is ‘truly knowing the community where I am called to serve’.
Recalling a recent visit to the southern neighbourhood of Ostia in Rome, he explained how ‘to speak with these people, we must begin by knowing their reality as deeply as possible’.
Calling upon the priests to continue to experience real life, he ordered them to stay vigilant over artificial intelligence and the internet, issuing a warning against ‘the temptation to prepare homilies with artificial intelligence’.
He added: ‘Like all the muscles in the body, if we do not use them, if we do not move them, they die.
‘The brain needs to be used, so our intelligence must also be exercised a little so as not to lose this capacity.’
‘If we can offer a service that is inculturated in the place, in the parish where we are working, people want to see your faith, your experience of having known and loved Jesus Christ,’ he added.
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