Latest news with #CatholicChurch
The Citizen
3 hours ago
- The Citizen
Pope Leo warns AI could disrupt young minds' grip on reality
The pope has called for ethical oversight on AI, especially for the sake of children and adolescents. Pope Leo XIV warned on Friday of the potential consequences of artificial intelligence (AI) on the intellectual development of young people, saying it could damage their grip on reality. Since his election as head of the Catholic Church on May 8, the pope — a mathematics graduate — has repeatedly warned of the risks associated with AI but this is the first time he has spoken out exclusively on the subject. Concerns for children's mental and neurological development 'All of us… are concerned for children and young people, and the possible consequences of the use of AI on their intellectual and neurological development,' the American pope warned in a written message to participants at the second Rome Conference on AI. 'No generation has ever had such quick access to the amount of information now available through AI. 'But again, access to data — however extensive — must not be confused with intelligence,' Leo told business leaders, policymakers and researchers attending the annual conference. While welcoming the use of AI in 'enhancing research in healthcare and scientific discovery', the pope said it 'raises troubling questions on its possible repercussions' on humanity's 'distinctive ability to grasp and process reality'. ALSO READ: Nzimande signs letter of intent in China to boost AI in SA Pope targeted by AI manipulation Pope Leo himself has been the target of deep fake videos and audio messages published on social media in recent weeks. An AFP investigation earlier this month identified dozens of YouTube and TikTok pages broadcasting AI-generated messages masquerading as genuine comments from the pope in English or Spanish. A survey from the Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism this week found significant numbers of young people in particular were using chatbots to get headlines and updates. The church's broader push for AI ethics The Catholic Church has attempted to influence ethical thinking surrounding the use of new technologies in recent years under Leo's predecessor Francis. In 2020, the Vatican initiated the Rome Call for AI Ethics — signed by Microsoft, IBM, the United Nations, Italy and a host of universities — urging transparency and respect for privacy. NOW READ: Eskom launches AI chatbot 'Alfred' to expedite fault reporting
Atlantic
4 hours ago
- Politics
- Atlantic
Pope Leo and the Next ‘Industrial Revolution'
The pope didn't take long to explain why he picked the name Leo. Two days after his election, he cited his inspiration: the preceding Pope Leo, who led the Church while the West confronted the social and economic disruptions of the Industrial Revolution. The world now faces 'another industrial revolution,' Leo XIV said last month, spurred not by mechanized manufacturing but by artificial intelligence. In particular, he noted the challenges that AI poses to 'human dignity, justice, and labor,' three concerns that his 19th-century namesake prioritized as he responded to the technological transformations of his time. In 1891, Leo XIII published Rerum Novarum, a moral and intellectual framework that addressed the growing inequality, materialism, and exploitation ushered in by the Industrial Revolution. The current pope has signaled that AI's arrival demands a similar intervention; if the earlier Leo's tenure is any indication, it could be the most ambitious and enduring project of Leo XIV's papacy. Rerum Novarum will be a guiding influence. Leo XIII insisted in Rerum Novarum that labor is both 'personal' and 'necessary' for each individual, and that societies should protect the dignity of their workers as they pursue economic growth. Idolizing capital widens inequality, hence the 'misery and wretchedness' that many employers inflicted on much of the working class during the Industrial Revolution. The pope stated that socialism was no solution, but that employers must guarantee their workers reasonable hours, just wages, safe workplaces, and the right to unionize. Randy Boyagoda: The pope's most revealing choice so far These statements by the Church gave crucial backing to workers' movements and civic organizations fighting for labor protections. In Europe, Rerum Novarum consolidated Catholic support for workers and bolstered the political influence of labor unions, many of which adopted Christian principles to advance their cause. Leo XIII's interventions played a significant role in the United States as well. The pope supported American worker movements such as the Knights of Labor, and inspired Catholic reformers including Monsignor John Ryan, whose advocacy for a universal living wage influenced architects of the New Deal. Leo XIII also commissioned the likes of Saint Frances Cabrini and Saint Katharine Drexel to expand their missionary work, ultimately seeding hospitals, schools, orphanages, and public-housing complexes that addressed injustices faced particularly by immigrants, Black Americans, and Native Americans. Rerum Novarum also had a profound influence on the Catholic Church itself. The document inaugurated what's now known as modern Catholic social teaching, an expansive intellectual tradition that emphasizes the common good, social justice, human dignity, and concern for the poor. Now Leo XIV has an opportunity to update this tradition for the age of AI. Like his namesake, he could marshal the Church's intellectual, cultural, and institutional resources, helping build a moral consensus about how to use a new technology that threatens to degrade humanity rather than serve it. Vice President J. D. Vance recently conceded that America is not equipped to provide this kind of leadership, but that the Catholic Church is. Leo has plenty of material to work with. Earlier this year, two administrative bodies within the Vatican produced an advisory document called Antiqua et Nova, which uses the Catholic intellectual tradition to argue that AI cannot engage with the world as a human can. For one thing, no technology has the capacity 'to savor what is true, good, and beautiful,' the authors write. Lacking interiority and a conscience, AI cannot authentically grasp meaning, assume moral accountability, or form relationships. As a result, the document contends, developers and users must take responsibility for AI products, ensuring that they don't exacerbate inequality, impose unsustainable environmental costs, or make decisions in war that could result in the indiscriminate loss of life. Tyler Austin Harper: What happens when people don't understand how AI works Both of us have contributed to initiatives that seek to better understand AI in the context of Catholic social teaching. Mariele is a member of an AI research group within the Vatican that recently published a book, Encountering Artificial Intelligence, that considers the ethical impacts of AI in politics, education, the family, and other spheres of life. In health care, for example, AI can help improve access to certain kinds of assessment and treatment, but it can also perpetuate disparities through biases reflected in data, or disrupt the relationship between patients and health-care professionals. We are both part of a cohort at the University of Southern California investigating the ethical and social implications of transhumanism, especially as it intersects with AI. The group consists mostly of theologians and Catholic bioethicists, but we have found that many scholars working outside the Catholic tradition are eager to engage with the Church's thinking on these issues. Encouraging such collaboration will be crucial for Leo. As was true of the technology of the Industrial Revolution, AI will become most dangerous when economies prioritize profit and technological development over human flourishing and the dignity of labor. Left unregulated, markets will continually choose efficiency at the expense of workers, risking widespread unemployment and the dehumanization of the kinds of work that manage to survive. If the social order does not put technology at the service of people, markets will put the latter at the service of the former. Although the Church may not have the same influence in the secular 21st century that it did in the 19th, there are signs of a possible Catholic resurgence —particularly among young people—that could help Leo reach a wider audience. Just as it did during the first Industrial Revolution, the Church has a chance to help safeguard work that is dignified, justly paid, and commensurate with human flourishing. The pope's new name is a hopeful sign that this responsibility won't go unmet.
Business Insider
7 hours ago
- Business
- Business Insider
It's not too late to bid on Pope Leo XIV's childhood home
It's not too late to bid on Pope Leo XIV's childhood home, where the drama surrounding its sale is heating up. Paramount Realty USA, an agency participating in the sale of the Illinois home, extended the deadline from June 18 to July 17. A spokesperson said the extension would give potential bidders enough time to review the information, tour the property, and make submissions. The reserve price, meaning the lowest price the seller will accept, is $250,000. While the three-bedroom, three-bathroom home in Dolton appears somewhat ordinary, it gained national attention in May after Pope Leo XIV became the leader of the Catholic Church. The current owner purchased the home in May 2024 for $66,000, then put it on the market for $219,000 this January. They dropped the asking price to $199,900 in February, but still hadn't secured a buyer when the Catholic Church announced Pope Leo XIV's appointment. The revelation left the owner in shock. "It's better than winning the lotto," Steve Budzik, a real estate agent working with the home's owner, told Business Insider. "We were both very surprised and honored. It was a lot of emotions." Budzik added they'd received "steady interest" about the home before the announcement, but the excitement caused by the first American pope prompted fanfare. "It's like a collectible car they only made one of," Budzik said. Inundated with new offers, the owner decided to de-list the home that month while weighing his options. Ultimately, they decided to sell the house via auction through Paramount Realty USA. However, potential buyers will likely face off against the Village of Dolton, which has expressed interest in buying the home. Burton S. Odelson, an attorney for the village, told Business Insider the local government plans to acquire the home through direct purchase or eminent domain laws. Eminent domain laws let governments make private property available for public use. "If a direct purchase from the seller cannot be negotiated, the Village will cause Eminent Domain proceedings to be filed in Court and take the property through the legal process," Burton S. Odelson wrote in an email to BI. "The Village hopes a direct purchase is completed without court action." Odelson said the Village of Dolton has been in contact with the Chicago Archdiocese to decide how to use the space. The Village of Dolton's quest to purchase the home is facing pushback, though. A former Village of Dolton employee has filed a motion to block the motion, according to ABC 7. The outlet said the former employee cited potential misuse of taxpayer funds and financial mismanagement.
CBS News
19 hours ago
- General
- CBS News
Parishioners say final goodbyes to late Bishop Lawrence Brandt
At Blessed Sacrament Cathedral in Greensburg on Thursday, people were stopping by to pay their respects to the former leader of the diocese, Bishop Lawrence Brandt. Bishop Brandt died of natural causes on June 8 at age 86. On Wednesday, Brandt's body arrived at the cathedral for the final goodbye to parishioners and clergy alike. Since then, his body has been lying in state for those who wished to come to pay their respects. The current bishop, Larry Kulick, says that his predecessor lived a good and devout life, and that for him, part of Bishop Brandt's legacy is the kindness with which he listened to people and how he made everyone feel heard. "I would always say to people, sometimes the public perception was, 'Oh, Bishop always knew what he was doing,' and that is exactly what he would do," said Bishop Kulick. "And I would say for those who worked with him behind the scenes, how many times we saw him in that listening, in that discerning, we saw his mind change. And he was someone who understood the importance of taking counsel and could take counsel." Bishop Brandt was Greensburg's fourth bishop, serving from 2004 to 2015. Before that, however, he served in the Vatican's Diplomatic Corps for several years before being made Chancellor of the Diocese of Erie. "His dignity and the way he carried himself," Kulick said. "As I will say tomorrow in the homily, his courage to move forward was rooted in a deep faith and a man of the church." On June 20, additional viewing will occur from 10:00 a.m. until 1:00 p.m. at the cathedral. A funeral mass will be celebrated at 2:00 p.m. Interment will follow in the Greensburg Catholic Cemetery. The diocese says that if people can't make the funeral, it will be live-streamed on their website, YouTube, and social media pages. More information can be found here.
Daily Mail
21 hours ago
- Daily Mail
'Cool monk' who groomed and sexually abused boys at £43,000-a-year private school is jailed
A monk who groomed and sexually abused boys at a £43,000-a-year Roman Catholic boarding school has been jailed for seven years. Michael James Callaghan, known as Father James, preyed on vulnerable teenage boys at Ampleforth College in North Yorkshire, a court heard. Judge Richard Clews said the actions of the 71-year-old brought 'the Catholic church and the school into serious disrepute by their nature and number.' Last month Callaghan was convicted of 12 counts of indecent assault on one pupil in the 1990s and one count of sexual assault on another teenager in the 2010s at a trial at Teeside Crown Court last month. The older victim, neither of whom can be identified, faced the priest in court as he read out a statement in which he said 'Father James was manipulative and controlling'. He said: 'My life was hijacked when I was just 14 and I have been dealing with the fallout ever since.' The court heard how the house master groomed the boy and engineered ways to be alone with him, took him out of school for meals and gave him cigarettes. The complainant said in his police interview that Callaghan would 'take on the role of a boy I had a crush on' and they would kiss and simulate sex, telling officers he 'hated the sexual bit of it' and realised as an adult it 'wasn't right'. The second victim, who had his bottom fondled by Callaghan, said it was 'weird and quite frightening' that his abuser was a priest. In a victim statement which was read out for him, he said he hoped Callaghan could be rehabilitated, and 'that he may in time examine his conscience, practice repentance and change his ways'. One of the victims had described Callaghan as a 'cool monk who was popular' at a previous hearing. David Lamb KC, defending, said Callaghan had sought medical help to address his attraction to boys before he joined Ampleforth. He added that Callaghan has no previous convictions and expressed remorse after his conviction. The judge said Callaghan, of Moortown, Leeds, would be subject to an indefinite sexual harm prevention order and will be on the sex offender register for life. Judge Clews said right-thinking people would 'recoil in horror' at the idea of a Roman Catholic priest having a sexual relationship with a boy. The school, described in court as 'the Catholic Eton', said after the sentencing that it had 'overhauled' it safeguarding systems. In a statement, it said: 'Ampleforth College deplores abuse and offers a heartfelt apology to the victims and their families for the profound suffering and pain that Michael James Callaghan has inflicted upon them. 'We acknowledge past failings and feel great sorrow at the terrible betrayal of trust.' It said the monk left the school in 2018 and it fully supported the police inquiries which began in 2022. The statement added: 'We are committed to reporting any safeguarding concerns to the relevant authorities and supporting the police and relevant authorities in any investigation. 'We actively offer any help we can give to survivors of abuse and we commend their courage in speaking out.' After the sentencing, Detective Constable Alison Morris, of North Yorkshire Police, said: 'Not only did Callaghan abuse his position of trust in the most appalling way, taking advantage of vulnerable boys he should have been caring for and protecting, he denied his offences throughout and showed no remorse for the pain and suffering he caused.'
