Contemplate Christ to understand God and man, Pope tells AI conference participants

May 22, 2026

Pope Leo XIV today addressed participants in a Vatican conference on artificial intelligence, told them that the Church’s primary concern is the eternal salvation of every human person, and said that contemplation of Christ is the means to come to the truth about God and man.

The conference, entitled Custodire voci e volti umani (Preserving Human Voices and Faces), took place yesterday at Pontifical Urban University and was organized by two Vatican dicasteries. The conference was named after the title of Pope Leo’s message for the 2026 World Day of Communications.

“The primary concern of the Church has been, and continues to be, the eternal salvation of every human person,” Pope Leo told the conference participants. “This desire for everyone ‘to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth’ (1 Tim 2:4) must therefore inform not only our decisions and actions, but also the use and the direction given to media, digital technology and artificial intelligence in order to ensure that these tools be placed at the authentic service of humanity.”

“As sadly evidenced by the unbridled promotion and implementation of technology at the expense of human dignity and the damage caused when chatbots and other technologies exploit our need for human relationships, we are truly experiencing an eclipse of the sense of what it means to be human,” Pope Leo continued. “It is therefore all the more imperative to recover an understanding of the true meaning and grandeur of humanity as intended by God.”

The Pope explained that “in this light, I am confident that it is only through contemplating Christ, the Incarnate Word, that we can recover not only a proper vision of God, but also come to understand the truth of humanity ... For this reason, the true preservation of the face and voice of every individual must necessarily entail an encounter with him who is ‘the image of the invisible God,’ while at the same time being himself the perfect man (Col 1:15).”

Pope Leo added:

We have been called to bring the light of Christ to the world, illuminating every dimension of human activity (cf Jn 8:12; Mt 5:14-16). How can we fail to do so in our own time, especially with an issue so prevalent in society? As a result, the Church finds herself compelled to contribute to the effort of planning and implementing media, information and AI literacy within education systems. In this way, she can help to ensure that people acquire critical thinking skills and that technologies contribute to the salvation of those who use them ...

All people, but especially the young “should learn moderation and discipline in their use” of such technology (Inter Mirifica 10), supported by the guidance of parents and educators ... Young people in particular are open to this truth and desirous of discovering life’s meaning. We must therefore help them to encounter the living Christ and teach them to integrate the use of technology within a holistic Christian lifestyle.

Speakers and panelists at the conference included Vatican officials, scholars, and writers on AI, among them Cardinal José Tolentino de Mendonça, Paolo Ruffini, Marijana Grbeša Zenzerović (University of Zagreb), Kashmir Hill, Vineet Khosla, Eli Pariser, Paola Ricaurte, Benjamin Rosman, Joy Buolamwini, Daniel Dzuban (Sony Corporation), Tristan Harris, Adeline Hulin, Divina Frau-Meigs, Rayén Condeza Dall’Orso, and Justin Kings.

 

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Further information:

• To Participants in the International Conference “Preserving Human Voices and Faces” promoted by the Dicastery for Communication in collaboration with the Dicastery for Culture and Education (Dicastery for Communication - Vatican Media, 5/22/26)
• Audience with participants in the International Conference “Preserving Human Voices and Faces” promoted by the Dicastery for Communication in collaboration with the Dicastery for Culture and Education (Holy See Press Office, 5/22/26)
• Identità e libertà da proteggere (L’Osservatore Romano, 5/22/26)