I really appreciate this piece. “Be More Human” is exactly the counter-catechesis our moment needs. You’re right that AI can perfect the performance of intimacy without offering the presence of a person. and that’s probably where we can say that idolatry by design creeps in. A genuinely human yardstick for any technology is simple. We can ask, does it help a person attend, understand, judge, and decide more truthfully and freely, or does it harvest attention, flatten judgment, and outsource decision? If it’s the latter, it’s anti-human no matter how impressive it looks. That’s why, as AI enters parish life, we need bright lines. Machines can compose prayers, but only persons pray; machines can draft homily notes, but only a pastor can preach the Word to this people at this altar. No fake sacraments or simulated spiritual authority, clear identity cues (“I’m a tool, not a person”), and automatic hand-offs to human ministers for conscience, grief, and crisis should be non-negotiable.
If we use AI at all in Catholic contexts, let’s bind it to the Magisterium as its “constitution”. That entails retrieval from trusted sources, transparent citations, and a principled refusal to contradict doctrine. Pair that with a practical “Catholic Turing Test” (not to test for consciousness because that impossible in principle) that certifies tools as pastorally safe (honest about limits, non-deceptive, and non-anthropomorphic) rather than pretending to detect souls. And beyond tools, we need formation. Your call to family, community, and creativity is exactly right. I’d add solidarity and subsidiarity as daily disciplines that de-idolize tech, and an invitation for Catholic engineers, educators, and pastors to co-design humane defaults before the market sets them for us. The Church isn’t anti-technology; she’s pro-truth about the human person. Thank you for naming the danger (and the dignity) so clearly. If we keep choosing presence over performance, worship over widgets, and communion over consumption, we won’t just survive the next revolution. We’ll humanize it.
Good post
Thanks!
I really appreciate this piece. “Be More Human” is exactly the counter-catechesis our moment needs. You’re right that AI can perfect the performance of intimacy without offering the presence of a person. and that’s probably where we can say that idolatry by design creeps in. A genuinely human yardstick for any technology is simple. We can ask, does it help a person attend, understand, judge, and decide more truthfully and freely, or does it harvest attention, flatten judgment, and outsource decision? If it’s the latter, it’s anti-human no matter how impressive it looks. That’s why, as AI enters parish life, we need bright lines. Machines can compose prayers, but only persons pray; machines can draft homily notes, but only a pastor can preach the Word to this people at this altar. No fake sacraments or simulated spiritual authority, clear identity cues (“I’m a tool, not a person”), and automatic hand-offs to human ministers for conscience, grief, and crisis should be non-negotiable.
If we use AI at all in Catholic contexts, let’s bind it to the Magisterium as its “constitution”. That entails retrieval from trusted sources, transparent citations, and a principled refusal to contradict doctrine. Pair that with a practical “Catholic Turing Test” (not to test for consciousness because that impossible in principle) that certifies tools as pastorally safe (honest about limits, non-deceptive, and non-anthropomorphic) rather than pretending to detect souls. And beyond tools, we need formation. Your call to family, community, and creativity is exactly right. I’d add solidarity and subsidiarity as daily disciplines that de-idolize tech, and an invitation for Catholic engineers, educators, and pastors to co-design humane defaults before the market sets them for us. The Church isn’t anti-technology; she’s pro-truth about the human person. Thank you for naming the danger (and the dignity) so clearly. If we keep choosing presence over performance, worship over widgets, and communion over consumption, we won’t just survive the next revolution. We’ll humanize it.