{"id":306184,"date":"2026-02-23T15:44:16","date_gmt":"2026-02-23T15:44:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/306184\/"},"modified":"2026-02-23T15:44:16","modified_gmt":"2026-02-23T15:44:16","slug":"dont-use-ai-to-write-homilies-pope-leo-tells-priests","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/306184\/","title":{"rendered":"Don\u2019t use AI to write homilies, Pope Leo tells priests"},"content":{"rendered":"

Pope Leo has a reputation of being fond of technology. Late at night, when he struggles to sleep, he plays the online game Words with Friends or improves his German on the language-learning app Duolingo. In the evenings, he competes with his brother on Wordle. But even for the tech-savvy American Pope, the use of artificial intelligence has gone too far.<\/p>\n

\u201cI urge you to resist the temptation to prepare homilies with artificial intelligence,\u201d Leo told a gathering of priests in Rome last week. The Pope, who recently had a gym installed at the Apostolic Palace, added: \u201cLike all muscles in the body, if we do not use them, if we do not move them, they die. The brain needs to be used, and your intelligence needs to be exercised.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Vatican has warned that AI could destabilise the foundations of modern society and urged world leaders to rein it in.<\/p>\n

Pope Francis<\/a>, Leo\u2019s predecessor who died in April and who was depicted in a puffer jacket in an AI-generated deepfake image in 2023, told world leaders at the G7 summit in 2024 that AI amounted to a \u201ccognitive-industrial revolution\u201d that could undermine human dignity.<\/p>\n

\"AI<\/p>\n

The deepfake image of Pope Francis<\/p>\n

Antiqua et nova (Ancient and New), a 13,000-word document written by two Vatican departments<\/a> and published last year, suggested AI could stunt children\u2019s development and \u201censlave\u201d workers by limiting them to \u201crepetitive tasks\u201d. It said the technology contains \u201cthe shadow of evil\u201d.<\/p>\n

Leo<\/a> has also appeared cautious. Last month, he warned against forming overly emotional bonds with \u201cexcessively affectionate\u201d AI companions that can become \u201chidden architects of our emotional states\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u2022 Louisa Clarence Smith: Pope Leo challenges the gods of Silicon Valley over rise of AI<\/a><\/p>\n

Don Cosimo Schena, a parish priest in the southern town of Brindisi and a social media star, said he would never use AI to write a homily. \u201cIt depersonalises faith \u2014 the one you have inside of you,\u201d he said. \u201cHomilies need to be tailor-made to the context, to the community you have before you.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

However, Leo, whose papal name recalls Pope Leo XIII \u2014 who guided the church through the industrial revolution in the 19th century \u2014 has also recognised the technology\u2019s potential, urging a forum of AI builders at Rome\u2019s pontifical university last November to use the technology for evangelisation.<\/p>\n

\u201cTechnological innovation can be a form of participation in the divine act of creation,\u201d said the pontiff, who was included on Time magazine\u2019s list of \u201cthe most influential people in artificial intelligence\u201d last year. \u201cThe task laid before us is not to stop digital innovation, but rather to guide it,\u201d Leo added.<\/p>\n

Last week, the Vatican announced that congregations at St Peter\u2019s Basilica would be able to follow services in up to 60 languages from this spring, via an AI-powered app generating text on smartphones.<\/p>\n

Paolo Benanti, a Franciscan friar and AI expert who advised Francis, said Vatican representatives were looking into AI\u2019s pastoral potential, for example for rewriting flyers in youthful language for younger believers. He said cardinals were receiving training on how to use AI.<\/p>\n

The Augustinian pope\u2019s concern for preserving intellectual capacities is unsurprising, he said. \u201cAll the emphasis that Augustine makes on the importance of the intellect, as the place where one finds God, makes the question even more important for a Pope who is touched by this spirituality.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Pope<\/p>\n

Leo speaking in the Church of Saint Anselm before a holy mass for Ash Wednesday last week<\/p>\n

ALBERTO PIZZOLI\/AFP\/GETTY IMAGES<\/p>\n

In his address to Rome priests, Leo also warned against addictive use of social media, adding that popular posts were not evidence of effective pastoralism.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is often a deception on the internet, on TikTok,\u201d said the pope, who addressed \u201cdigital missionaries\u201d and influencers at St Peter\u2019s Basilica last year. \u201cIf we\u2019re not transmitting the message of Jesus Christ, perhaps we\u2019re wrong.\u201d<\/p>\n

Schena, who has more than 500,000 Instagram followers, said that social media could act like an \u201camplified parish\u201d if used to spread God\u2019s word. However, others are beginning to limit its use.<\/p>\n

Last week, Don Matteo Ferrari, the prior of the monastic order in Camaldoli in the Tuscan mountains urged the nine monks living there to \u201cabsolutely avoid\u201d addictive streaming and social media platforms such as Netflix, Instagram and TikTok \u201cfor a question of poverty and sobriety\u201d.<\/p>\n

Italian media noted that Ferrari had posted the letter on Facebook.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Pope Leo has a reputation of being fond of technology. Late at night, when he struggles to sleep,…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":306185,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[20],"tags":[345,343,344,85,46,125],"class_list":["post-306184","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-artificial-intelligence","tag-ai","tag-artificial-intelligence","tag-artificialintelligence","tag-il","tag-israel","tag-technology"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/306184","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=306184"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/306184\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/306185"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=306184"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=306184"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=306184"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}