By Lavoisier Fernandes –

“Keeping up with the Joneses”(or the Jones family)—the metaphorical family that lives in your neighbourhood or, more likely these days, on Instagram, WhatsApp statuses, TikTok or Facebook, always flaunting the best of everything. From an outsider’s view, their life seems annoyingly perfect. Perhaps it is their well-behaved, talented, or well-settled children, the fancy posh car that never breaks down, their seemingly picture-perfect house, wedding photos that apparently never needed a filter or a dozen retakes, or those luxurious vacations you watch them take to exotic places while you’re gearing up for yet another thrilling adventure to the local beach or park.

Social media frequently presents an incomplete or distorted view of someone’s life, often creating the illusion of perfection. It often promotes unrealistic standards of beauty, success, and happiness. This continuous exposure to idealized images, coupled with the fear of missing out (FOMO), can adversely affect mental well-being.

So, if you are scrolling through Facebook, TikTok or Instagram on autopilot, it is all too easy for your mind to leap to negative conclusions and judgments about others—and yourself—like, “He’s got everything going for him. My life is so boring,” “She’s way prettier than I am,” “Why would he even post that?” or “What an attention seeker.”

This can be spiritually and psychologically harmful. If left unchecked, it can subtly encourage comparison, leading to feelings of envy, vainglory, inadequacy, and self-doubt and if these emotions are not addressed, they can escalate into stress, anxiety, and depression. Whilst for those already struggling with anxiety or depression, constant exposure to these negative comparisons can further aggravate their challenges.

Vainglory on the other hand—characterized by the desire to showcase one’s best moments, achievements, and appearance can easily slip into vainglory, where the primary goal becomes seeking admiration and validation from others.

This excessive desire for recognition and praise amplified in the digital world through seeking validation and the temporary dopamine rush created by the social media rewards of “likes” on Facebook, WhatsApp, Instagram can lead to a culture of self-aggrandizement and superficial interactions. So also, the metrics of social media—likes, comments, shares, and follower counts—can become a measure of personal worth.

Two Deadly Vices—Envy and Vainglory

Envy is a significant moral concern in Catholic teaching (CCC No 2539),often linked to a lack of charity and a distorted self-view in relation to others and oneself. It is considered a capital sin, marked by sorrow over another’s good fortune and an excessive desire to obtain what they have, even through unjust means. This vice can lead to harmful behaviours such as hatred, gossip, and general discontent with others’ successes or the lack of one’s own success.

Holy Scripture provides early examples of envy (cf. Gen 4), where Cain’s anger towards Abel arises when God favours Abel’s sacrifice over his own. Despite being the firstborn and receiving a larger share of his father’s inheritance, Cain’s envy over Abel’s success leads him to murder his brother.

Similarly, in the parable of the workers in the vineyard (Mt 20:15), those hired first begrudge the equal wages given to those hired later, revealing their envy. The master’s response, “Am I not allowed to do what I choose with what belongs to me? Or do you begrudge my generosity?” underscores the destructive nature of envy and the importance of contentment.

Vainglory, a vice closely related to vanity, involves an excessive craving for recognition and praise. It reflects a focus on earthly honours and external validation, manifesting in intolerance of criticism, boasting, and an endless desire for admiration. In 1 John 2:16 it refers to “the pride of life,” highlighting the conflict between such vanity and spiritual values. Similarly, Ecclesiastes 1:2-3 reminds us that all is vanity apart from God.

The Catechism of the Catholic Church (No 1753) notes that the quest for human glory can hinder spiritual growth, as it shifts focus away from seeking God’s glory. It cautions that attachment to earthly honours can lead to other sins, such as disobedience and hypocrisy.

Root of Envy Is a False Image of God While Vainglory is an Inflated and Baseless Self-Esteem.

Pope Francis, in his cycle of catechesis on envy and vainglory, elaborates by noting that:

“Envy is a false image of God, and it  stems from a complex relationship of both admiration and resentment. Individuals may desire the good fortune of others while simultaneously wishing them harm, reflecting a deeper struggle with self-identity and worth.”

The Holy Father further highlights that the two vices often define a person who craves being the centre of the universe, exploiting everyone and everything to become the focus of all praise and admiration thus adding that :

“Vainglory is an inflated and baseless self-esteem. The vainglorious person possesses an unwieldy “I”: he has no empathy and takes no notice of the fact that there are other people in the world besides him. His relationships are always instrumental, marked by the dominating the other. His person, his accomplishments, his achievements must be shown to everyone: he is a perpetual beggar for attention. And if at times his qualities are not recognized, he becomes fiercely angry. Others are unfair, they do not understand, they are not up to it.”

How Can We Combat Envy, Vainglory and Comparison in an Age of Social Media?

Social media offers numerous benefits and opportunities for meaningful engagement and evangelization. The challenge is to navigate these platforms with a focus on authentic human relationships and a commitment to the Gospel, rather than being swayed by the temptations of popularity, envy, vainglory, and comparison.

Several key approaches rooted in Catholic teachings can help:

5. Counting your Blessings and Practicing Gratitude : This reminds me of the beautiful hymn “When upon life’s billows you are tempest tossed, When you are discouraged, thinking all is lost, Count your many blessings, name them one by one….”. The Catechism of the Catholic Church (N 2638) teaches that combating envy involves goodwill and a recognition of the blessings in one’s own life (cf. 1 Thess 5:18). A common practice for reviewing one’s day, often performed through the Examen—a form of prayer developed by St. Ignatius of Loyola—involves reflecting on the blessings received throughout the day. This practice fosters a spirit of gratitude and deepens awareness of God’s gifts.
6. God Does Not Show Favouritism or Rewards us with Wealth—as the Prosperity Gospel Suggests: For Catholics, the true reward is in heaven, not in earthly wealth, praise, or recognition. Earthly life is temporary (cf.Lk12:13-21), while heaven is the ultimate goal. Additionally, we understand that God does not have favourites (cf. Rom 2:11) and does not reward us with worldly riches, contrary to the claims of the prosperity gospel commonly found in some Protestant beliefs.
7. Avoiding Superficial Comparisons: We are created in the image and likeness of God with different talents and also with our fair share of difficulties and trials. Recognizing that social media often presents an idealized version of life is crucial. The Church teaches that focusing on one’s own unique path (Cf. Matthew 25:14-30) and gifts can help mitigate the negative effects of comparison. Encouraging self-reflection and personal growth can lead to a healthier relationship with social media.
8. Cultivating Humility and Developing a Healthy Self Image: Humility is essential in overcoming envy and vainglory. Pope Francis teaches that true greatness lies in serving others, not in seeking recognition. Embracing humility helps shift focus from self-promotion to genuine service, fostering community. It involves recognizing your worth in Christ and valuing your intrinsic value beyond external achievements.
9. Limiting Social Media Exposure and Engaging Authentically: Setting boundaries, avoiding mindless scrolling. So, to educating yourself about the effects of social media and seeking to use it mindfully and responsibly and investing in genuine, face-to-face relationships and community activities that provide real support and validation can help. The Dicastery for Communication encourages believers to seek meaningful connections rather than superficial interactions on social media.

Lavoisier Fernandes, born and raised in Goa, is currently based in West London. His faith is “work in progress”- and a lifelong journey. He has always been fascinated by the Catholic faith thanks to his Salesian schooling and his passion is podcasting, theology, the papacy, volunteering.
He has hosted the ‘Talking Faith’ series for Heavens Road FM Catholic Radio, connecting with ordinary men and women within the Catholic faith, other faiths and examining issues affecting both Church and society and has also hosted the ‘Heart Talk’ series for  Shalom World Catholic TV. In 2018 one of his podcast -Mental Health and the role of the Catholic Church was shortlisted for the Jerusalem awards in UK. Presently contributes for the Goa Diocesan magazine – Renovação, Mumbai Diocesan magazine – The Examiner, the only digital Indian Catholic portal – Indian Catholic Matters  and the Faith Companion Magazine in England.

The post Beyond the Likes: The Envy, Vainglory and Comparison Behind Social Media Screens appeared first on Indian Catholic Matters.

Fr. Philip Larrey, Ph.D. is a Professor of philosophy at Boston College and a Catholic priest. The Pontifical Lateran University in the Vatican appointed him to the Chair of Logic and Epistemology, where he oversaw the department of philosophy until joining Boston College. He focuses on the philosophy of knowledge and critical thinking in his writings. Several works about the effects of the new digital era on society have been written by him. Two recent books, Connected World (Penguin) and Futuro Ignoto (IF Press), both emphasise this topic. 2018 saw Mondadori publish the latter’s Italian translation, Dove inizia il futuro.

He has spent years researching the philosophical ramifications of artificial intelligence’s explosive growth. He openly confronts business executives he meets at the Vatican to talk about how technology is changing the face of society. In his recently published book Artificial Mankind, he explores the implications of AI research for mankind as a whole in a more philosophical manner. (Please visit his amazing and exhaustive website: philiplarrey.com)

Interviewing Fr. Philip Larrey, a prominent Catholic figure who advocates for the Catholic Church and society at large regarding the implications of artificial intelligence breakthroughs for both the Church and society at large, is a great honour for Indian Catholic Matters.

Fr. Larrey is actively engaged in establishing connections with influential figures and global leaders in the artificial intelligence space. We value his time in answering our voice chat questions.  Transcripts of the interview below:

It seems a bit paradoxical that a Roman Catholic priest could end up heading the logic and epistemology department at the Pontifical Lateran University in Rome, considered the Pope’s University. Can you please share a bit about your journey, starting from your own vocation to the Catholic priesthood to this position?

In 1984, I relocated to Rome and commenced my preparation for the Catholic priesthood, mostly at the Jesuit-run Pontifical Gregorian University. I focused on analytical philosophy there, and most people’s definition of analytical philosophy includes logic and epistemology. The structure of human cognition and the nature of the human intellect are the subjects of logic and epistemology. After receiving my PhD in 1994, I immediately began teaching, and I did so until 2002, when I moved to the Pontifical Lateran University. A few years later, I was appointed chair of the Department of Logic and Epistemology.

Given that the majority of professors at the Pontifical colleges in Rome are Catholic priests, this is therefore not extremely unusual. Thus, my appointment made perfect sense in that regard. I became interested in artificial intelligence early in the 1990s because I was teaching a course on what constitutes human thought. I reasoned that by learning more about how machines were simulating human thought, we would be able to gain a better understanding of what human thought is all about. Around 2008 or 2009, there was a decline in artificial intelligence research due to immature technology, particularly in the areas of hardware and software, which contributed to some of the excitement surrounding the field.

These days, we have far more capable systems that can handle enormous databases and do logical calculations at blazing speeds. That’s the reason why some of the promises made about the capabilities of artificial intelligence are starting to materialise. My vocation as a Catholic priest is one that is committed to the intellectual life, and I view philosophy as being crucial to my work in artificial intelligence.

In my opinion, the Catholic Church has to speak up in this area, and it is starting to do so gradually. Because we disregarded the potential of artificial intelligence, I believe we are lagging behind the curve, even if we are now beginning to participate in the discourse.

You are also heading multiple other initiatives such as Humanity 2.0. Can you share briefly the goals of this organization and your specific mandate?

As you are aware, Humanity 2.0 is devoted to advancing human flourishing and acts as a human accelerator for it. By “human flourishing,” what do we mean? What are some barriers that prevent people from thriving, and how can we help initiatives that get over them? Our organisation, which has only been in existence for a short while, organises an annual meeting at the Pontifical Academy of Sciences, a significant and potent location for bringing together individuals from the various fields related to human flourishing. We hope that other kinds of measures that determine a nation’s or company’s level of wealth can be replaced by human flourishing. For instance, the gross national product, profit margins, etc., in simply economic terms. We believe that the concept of human flourishing can provide a new matrix that includes more aspects of what it means to be prosperous as an individual, as a business, or as a nation. We’re committed to seeing that happen.

Pope Francis has been talking about artificial intelligence these days. Can you share what it has been to interact closely with the Pope on these technology matters and how receptive he has been to this disruptive technology be adopted by the Catholic Church? Also any quotes that Pope Francis has mentioned in the context of artificial intelligence.

During his address on January 1st, World Day of Peace, Pope Francis started talking about artificial intelligence. He discusses something once a year. He discussed artificial intelligence and peace this year. Ways in which AI can promote peace.

The Holy Father made references to the weaponisation of artificial intelligence and other cutting-edge technological advancements in the field of “lethal autonomous weapon systems” that have serious ethical concerns. Weapon systems that are autonomous can never be morally upright. The capacity that only humans possess for moral judgment and ethical decision-making is more than just a sophisticated set of algorithms, and it cannot be reduced to programming a machine—a machine, no matter how “intelligent,” is still a machine. It is crucial to guarantee sufficient, significant, and regular human supervision of weapon systems because of this.

Moreover, Pope Francis is a pope, not a computer scientist, software engineer, or CEO of a digital company. Not only is the Catholic Church primarily a spiritual power in the world, but he also holds leadership over it. He will thus discuss artificial intelligence that is centred on people and how technology might benefit mankind rather than work against it. He discusses some of the challenges associated with this new technology as we get to know it and develop more effective ways to use it.

He dedicated his second address, which was given on the World Day of Communications, to artificial intelligence. The idea that deep fakes could change how we perceive reality is one of the intriguing topics he brings up in his speech, and I find it intriguing. As you may know, deep fake is the term for lifelike audio, video, or image that appears real but isn’t.

Pope Francis goes so far as to say that he was the victim of a deepfake. Of course, this is not true; he may remember the picture of him in a white puffer coat that appeared incredibly authentic. Hence, he warns against falling for these deepfakes and the potential for twisting reality to be something it isn’t.

And then there’s the US President Biden Biden appearing to have advised Americans not to vote in the primaries during an Amy Roblach journalistic call at the New Hampshire primary a few months back. It wasn’t a recording of him; rather, it was an entirely false audio tape that was created by a young man in Connecticut. The voice was saying, “Please don’t go and vote in the primaries because you will lose your vote for the general election in November,” which was absurd, but it did sound like President Biden. Even though it is absurd, some people were convinced by it, and millions of people received it.

There’s also the American singer-songwriter Taylor Swift—who is incredibly well-known worldwide—was the target of deepfake pictures that went viral just before the Super Bowl. She’s probably in Milan right now; her two or three sold-out shows there thus far. Naturally, a lot of attention was drawn to her boyfriend, Travis Kelsey, the wide receiver for the Kansas City Chiefs, who just won the Super Bowl.

It is noteworthy, therefore, that the Pope is cognisant of some of the risks associated with this technology and that caution is advised. Pope Francis delivered his third major speech at the plenary session of the Pontifical Academy for Life, which is led by Archbishop Vincento Paglia. Father Paolo Benanti launched the well-known Rome Call for Ethics of AI, and the two of them were just in Japan last week talking with Asians, many of whom had also signed the call.

Choosing to deploy AI for human benefit rather than harm is akin to making a conscious choice. Of course, Pope Francis’s most recent address was delivered during the June G7 summit in Apulia, Italy, where he really attended mostly for the second day of the meeting, during which they discussed artificial intelligence, and he also gave a speech on the subject.

He was invited to do so by Giorgia Meloni who is the Prime Minister of Italy and it was very unusual because the Pope has never participated in a G7 summit which is a completely political organization and so it was very surprising that he would do this.

But the reason I think he did was because he sees the position of the Catholic Church as not being influential in the development of the technology and he wanted to influence in some way the development of this technology according to the principles of the Catholic Church.

We’ll have to see how effective that was but it was a historic presence and received a lot of attention in the media obviously and I think you can see you can obviously get several quotes from his discourse there.

Although Pope Francis receives assistance from other experts when drafting these texts and speaking about these technologies, it was evident during his speech that he is well-versed in the terminology and ideas related to these technologies. Pope Francis is aware of the significance of this, and it appears that he is making an effort to influence the dialogue.

Let’s put it that way. Try to shape the conversation.

So again, so AI is used for the benefit of humanity and not the contrary.

A lot of people use the term “artificial intelligence” these days without actually understanding what it means. Could you please define artificial intelligence and explain how the Catholic Church and its many members can benefit from it?

Artificial intelligence is a series of algorithms that use logical calculations in order to achieve programmable results.  Although it is a simplified explanation, I believe it covers the key points of what artificial intelligence is. At a symposium he organised with a number of other mathematicians and philosophers, John McCarthy, an American computer scientist and cognitive scientist who is also credited with founding the field of artificial intelligence, first used the term in 1956 at Dartmouth University in New Hampshire.

For instance, Marvin Minsky, an American cognitive and computer scientist who is primarily interested in AI research and co-founder of the AI laboratory at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, was present there. McCarthy enquired as to what a Turing computer is doing when it generates responses to queries from people. You call this artificial intelligence. Minksy went on to found the Centre for Robotics at MIT, which is still active today and a leader in the field.

Now it’s actually not intelligence anymore. It is actually the logical computation structure that imitates human reasoning. We carry it out mentally. It is done by the machine using ones and zeros. The foundation of the machines we use today is a binary system. What’s impressive about AI is its capacity to mimic human thought.

Now, if you’ve ever utilised ChatGPT4O, where the O stands for omni… Let me put it this way: ChatGPT4O is a fresh take on Chat GPT4, the most recent iteration of OpenAI.

This latest version is quite impressive because it uses speech, the machine will communicate with humans through speech. You can view some of the examples provided by OpenAI by visiting their website. It nearly seems as though it is comprehending what we are saying.

Now, this is important. It’s a very impressive technology, and people are actually using it in order to form relationships with the machine. That could be another question at another time. But it simply is using statistics in order to respond to a human’s question or query or comment.

Statistically, what is the most likely meaning this word has? It would be the proper response or answer to the question, etc. So it’s not thinking, it’s not reasoning as humans do, but it is impressive and it’s very fast.

These are, like I said, these are powerful systems and they go a long way into mimicking what human beings would say is understanding, it’s not really understanding, but it certainly can simulate what we mean by understanding. Now, this is a huge philosophical topic. I taught a course in part last semester dealing with these issues. We spent two weeks on this issue in class with different readings.

So it’s very complex. Let me just say this.

As the chatbots get better and better at doing this, and they’re already impressive, and now other Anthropic has come out with their version called clog, and Google has their version called Gemini, and Facebook has a, so the platforms are getting very good on what’s called Large Language Models. But let’s take a step back and ask ourselves what the AI is actually doing.

Well-known futurist and transhumanist Raymond Kurzweil, who works for Google asks, “Is there a difference if we can’t see it?” Can we now distinguish between a human speaking to us and an artificial intelligence speaking to us? Well, things are becoming harder. It’s becoming increasingly challenging to distinguish between them. He then asks, “Is there a difference if we can’t tell it exists?”

And that’s really a very good question, too. Yes, is my answer. A distinction will always exist. Even if the similarities are so great that they are indistinguishable. The reason is that, once more, time is of the essence, therefore I’m omitting a lot of stages here. The reason for the difference is that human intellect, a higher ability of the soul, produces human language. No machine has a soul.

They have systems, operating systems, and algorithms, which are very sophisticated. But when humans interact, if we want, it’s a soul interacting with another soul. Now, it’s not direct. The soul doesn’t interact with others, except through the higher faculties, which are the will and the intellect. And even that is mediated between the senses and the different passive intellect, active intellect philosophically, we have systems that address this.

Can the AI fool us into thinking it is a soul?

Behind the language it has a soul. Well, maybe. I don’t think so. But this is an open question. The engineers are busy at work trying to, in a sense, fake us out. I think there will always be a difference that the human being will be able to detect. But it’s becoming more and more difficult to detect that difference.

Some of my students last semester were creating AI programs to detect AI, which because chat GPT  can be used to write papers and it can fake out people on a phone call and use, for example, your daughter’s phone number and her voice to say that her life is in danger. Can you please send $20,000 to the following person? And people have been scammed. Many, actually. So this is an issue. It’s getting very convincing. But again, that is a bad use of the technology that’s going against human flourishing and human dignity. And so the conversation will continue to go on.

How can artificial intelligence be harnessed for the Catholic Church?

Well, look at Magisterium AI. And you’ve spoken with Matthew Sanders, who created that. And it is an excellent example of how AI can be used in the service of the Church. Magisterium AI helps people understand the position of the Catholic Church on any number of issues. It’s very precise. And it’s an AI trained on official documents of the Church. There are many other ways in which the Church can harness AI. As long as we’re not afraid of it, it should be something we are not afraid of so that we can use it for good.

Also, click link to read an exclusive interview with Interview with Mathew Sanders, Founder & CEO of Longbeard, creators of Magisterium AI:
It’s Time to Learn the Teachings of the Church Through AI

You are the author of two thought-leading books on artificial intelligence, ‘Artificial Humanity’ and ‘Connected World’, which are not available on Amazon and India. Therefore, most of our readers would not have a chance to purchase it yet. Can you please share a few brief takeaways from these books?

I’m surprised because Connected World was published by Penguin and it was printed in India. I’m not sure where, but in 2017, we published that with Penguin and actually the copies were printed in India. I find it strange it’s not available and then Artificial Humanity is available on Amazon and other countries. I’m not sure why it’s not in India.

So Connected World is a series of interviews I did with people involved with new technologies. Two of the most famous were Eric Schmidt, who was the head of Alphabet, which was Google’s parent company at the time, and Martin Sorrel, who was in charge of WPP, the largest advertising company in the world. Both of them have left and pretty much retired by now. That was seven years ago.

I interviewed also Bill Shores, who was part of the team at Motorola that created the cell phone. If you had a fascinating interview, that was a great one. He recalls how the CEO of Motorola, this would have been in the 1970s, went to Tucson, where Motorola has a huge engineering lab. And brought in a walkie-talkie and when you push a button, you listen, you let the button go. And he says, you need to invent a technology that uses this without the button. And that’s exactly what a cell phone is. It’s called a cell phone because it has a radio connection to a cell tower somewhere near you.

As you know, police can trace your tracks according to the presence on the different cell towers in the city. Now, if you’re in a place with no cell tower, the cell phone doesn’t work. And that’s what happens when they say, oh, I don’t have any connectivity. It means that there’s not a cell phone tower nearby that my cell phone can connect to.

Now, you avoid pushing a button and letting it go because that’s the way the engineers made the device.

But it is fascinating that Bill Shores said they invented the cell phone in order to connect us, in order to help us communicate. And yet now he sees that it actually is being used to separate us. We’ve never been more lonely than we have now. And we’ve never had less connection with each other than we do now, even though everyone has a cell phone at least one, some two.

Now, I interviewed a former pilot for Alitalia, a great interview. I interviewed Malitzle V, who was in charge of Publicis group, which is a large advertising company in Paris. A wonderful friend, he’s on the board of Humanity 2.0. And every year he organizes the largest convention on technology, which is called Viva Tech in Paris.

Last June, Elon Musk went every year, 50,000 people show up. It’s an amazing event. And he gave a wonderful outline. There’s a philosopher, Johann Seabert, a very dear friend of mine, and we went into some of the philosophical implications of AI, which is what I’m most interested in doing. And then there were maybe another 10 or 12 interviews, long interviews so that the people were able to speak their minds in a deep way about these issues and where we’re heading in the future.

Artificial in humanity is, of course, my version of the philosophical implications of artificial intelligence. So the main focus of the book, which is now translated into Chinese, by the way, I’m very happy about that. The main focus of the book is how an Aristotelian-Thomistic framework in philosophy can be used to deal with the philosophical implications and consequences of artificial intelligence.

It makes the case for Aristotelian-Thomistic thought, which is, of course, the tradition of the Catholic Church, and how we can use that in order to guide our thinking on issues such as the nature of the human being. Is there a soul? Is there an afterlife? There are many people in Silicon Valley that are working on immortality. We could get into that also in a separate conversation.

What is the nature of the intellect? What does reasoning mean? What are our general concepts? These are all issues that are now coming out of Silicon Valley without any philosophical framework. It’s important, before we talk about these things, to agree on a philosophical framework, to have a similar vocabulary, for example, to look at the brain in a way where we can see the brain.

It’s not completely reductive. Many other issues require, I think, a philosophical context in order to address these problems. When I speak with engineers and CEOs of tech companies, they get it. One engineer in San Francisco asked me, okay, so humans have a soul, right? Yes, well, that’s not the right way of putting it.

But human being is composed of two co-principals, form and matter. The form of the human being is a soul, the matter is the body. Now, it sounds like dualism, but it’s really not. It’s duality, as Thomas Aquinas calls it. And so the engineer says, oh, can we not separate the soul from the body? Because he’s interested in mind uploading and immortality on a digital format and harnessing memories and emotions and digital storage, place, et cetera. And I said, oh, yes, you can, but that’s called death. The separation of the soul and the body is the moment of death. And he says, no, no, we don’t want to kill anyone. I said, well, I know. But right now, we do not have technology which enables us to separate the soul from the body.

And I said, we never will. And he says, oh, we’re working on that right now. Of course, I’m sure they are. But that really gets into the relationship between the soul and the body. And so I have my students read questions 74, 75, 76 of the first part of the summa where Aquinas talks about the relationship between the soul and the body. And it’s difficult reading. They didn’t particularly like it. It’s new vocabulary for them. I have to, when I go through it with them and try to explain the concepts, but if you’re not familiar with it, it’s very difficult.

But I would suggest to the software engineers to take a crash course on Aquinas. I actually made a devising one and taking it to San Francisco. I have to go to San Francisco next week. So it’s useless to talk about the really cool themes that engineers want to talk about without philosophical basis. And so that’s what Artificial Humanity is about. I also talk about transhumanism. I talk about some movies. I think movies are a powerful way to communicate ideas.

And I have a appendix on Ex Machina, which is a movie by Alex Garment. And it speaks about AI and the box issue. The box issue was coined by Eliezer Yudkowsky, an American artificial intelligence researcher and writer on decision theory and ethics, best known for popularizing ideas related to friendly artificial intelligence.

Eliezer Yudkowsky posed the scenario, “What happens if we develop an artificial general intelligence, or HEI,” and confine it in a cage?” We ensure that it doesn’t come into contact with the outer world. They are prohibited from using the internet because, you know, we want to have control over it. Will it eventually persuade the gatekeeper to let it out? he asks. Yes, it will be wiser than the gatekeeper, which is the query and answer. This is the theory.

And Eliezer has a lot of information on his websites where he’ll take you through the whole thought experiment. It’s actually quite interesting. He has challenged many people and they’ve all lost. So he’s warning us about superintelligence getting out, so to speak, escaping the cage. And that’s what Garland tries to tell us in the movie, Ex Machina. I had my students see that movie this semester, and we talked about it.

Yudkowsky, was asked by Time Magazine to write an article about two years ago, I guess. And you can Google that Yudkowsky Time Magazine. It will come up.

But the open letter was written by the Swedish-American physicist, machine learning researcher, and author. Max Tegmark, who’s here at MIT, and an American technology ethicist and the executive director and co-founder of the Center for Humane Technology, Tristan Harris, and Azaraskan, who live in California, about a moratorium on AI research and development.

And the first person who signed the letter, it’s an open letter.

They asked me to sign it, and I did. I’m like 1,472. SpaceX and Tesla’s Elon Musk is number one. Sam Altman the CEO of OpenAI originally signed it, and then on a later version, he pulled out. But Max Tegmark, who’s a great pioneer in AI, a lot of people, if you can look at the signatories, there are a lot of them. British computer scientist Stuart Russell, I mean, the list goes on and on. And Tristan, who is a good friend of Eliezer, because Eliezer lives in San Francisco also, I believe, would you sign it? And Elie Azar said, no, because it doesn’t go far enough.

And if you read the article in Time Magazine, Eliezer says, once we create an artificial general intelligence, it will kill every human being on the face of the earth.

Now, this sounds exaggerated. It sounds like exaggerated rhetoric. It sounds hyperbole. But it’s coming from one of the greatest pioneers in AI development. Eliezer was one of the first to do research in AI, to start thinking about these issues. I found Eliezer was interviewed recently by Russian-American computer scientist and podcaster Lex Fridman. So Lex has a podcast where he interviews famous people. And you can see that on YouTube. It’s over two and a half hours, but it is a fascinating interview.

Eliezer says, we need to stop this now. We need to stop it right now. We don’t know where we’re going. We don’t have any guardrails. We don’t know what’s going to happen when we achieve artificial general intelligence. But everything that we know about AI is that it will destroy us. It’s not an issue that we could easily slough off. Eliezer is a formidable voice in this sector. And we should listen to him. Now I try to be less apocalyptic. I think we’ll be able to get along with the AI’s. We’ll learn to live with them. I’m not exactly sure how.

Everybody here in Boston is talking about what we need to do and how to create systems. A lot of very smart people, like Max Tegmark, are working on this right now. It is scary to hear someone of the stature of Eliezer, Yudkowsky, to say that we’re all dead. That’s a pretty somber notion.

Elon Musk said something at here at MIT about four years ago, which I consider particularly insightful. He says we have to make sure that artificial intelligence considers us an interesting part of the universe. Now what does he mean by that? You can’t really write in rules because the AI’s will just change the rules. I just had a recent debate on this at MIT, actually. Rule-based ethics, like the Ten Commandments. Those are rule-based ethics.

Our Emmanuel Kant, a German philosopher and one of the central Enlightenment thinker, has a rule-based ethics, a system of ethics.

The ethical system we’re using most of all today is utilitarianism, which was created by John Stuart Miller, an English philosopher, political economist, politician and civil servant. In the end, that’s also, I think, a rule-based ethics as well. I think that’s insufficient when we come to AI systems. Elon may have a point.

We have to make sure that they consider us an interesting part of the universe so that they will live with us. They will live and work. My idea is human flourishing. That AI’s should be dedicated to human flourishing, and therefore they won’t destroy us.

It was interesting to note that sometime back, Sam Altman, OpenAI founder and creator of chat GPT, was advocating for the regulation of artificial intelligence. Would you be able to share some thoughts on this?

Yes. Sam told me that he was more than open to asking the federal government to issue regulations the big AI systems. Sam is a very smart person. He’s obviously dedicated to making money, and that was his divergence from Elon Musk because they’re the two co-founders of OpenAI. But every time the senators have asked Sam to go to Washington, he has gone.

Last year, Senator Schumer from New York brought together a bunch of tech people. It was a closed-core meeting, so we didn’t really find out what they said. But I think there were 24 of them. Tristan Harris was actually invited, Sam Altman, an American entrepreneur and investor best known as the CEO of OpenAI since 2019 and the chairman of clean energy companies Oklo Inc and Helion Energy was invited. Sam is considered to be one of the leading figures of the AI boom. Mark Zuckerberg was there. Elon was there. Nadella from Microsoft. All the big names, obviously. The question is, I think Senator Schumer said, how can we regulate this technology?

Because it was interesting, on one side of the room, you had all the tech giants who understand AI but don’t understand how to make laws.

And then on the other side of the room, people have really no understanding of the tech but they’re very good at making laws. How can we make these two worlds speak to each other? It’s not easy.

I remember in San Francisco, a reporter says, what are you doing talking with Samuel (Sam) Harris Altman?

We connect every now and then. He was going to come to speak to my class in May, but at the time he was at MIT in Harvard so the time he didn’t work out. She was like, you know, Sam is the problem. And I’m like, no, no, no, no, Sam, Sam is not the problem. He’s part of the solution. Oh, well, he’s interested in money and the tech.

And I said, no, that’s not true. He’s very conscientious about what he’s doing. Now, Sam is a very driven person and I think last month he was in Saudi Arabia to convince the Crown Prince to start a series of factories that will build the chips that run AI. So he’s not going, you know, he’s not going to disappear.

But I remember telling the journalist, I forget who it was, but I said, you know, we should be worried about countries that are building AI systems and we don’t know anything about it. Because you know, you can talk to the builders of AI in the West.

You know, Sir Demis Hassabis, a British computer scientist, artificial intelligence researcher and entrepreneur in London; John LeCun in Canada; even Sam in San Francisco, you have other people around the world that are developing these, well, especially in the West developing these systems. And if you ask, especially if a government, you know, asked them or subpoenas and they respond. But who knows what other countries, and I won’t go into those countries, but there are other countries developing massive AI systems that we know nothing about.

So I think that Sam is in the right direction. I think Sam is worried about the ethical ramifications of AI. I don’t know, I don’t think he has the perfect solution. He put himself in charge of safety of AI recently.

I don’t know, I’d raise some eyebrows. But yeah, I think that I think we’re going in the right direction. I think it’s just the technology is advancing so quickly that it’s difficult to raise, it’s difficult to think about these things quick, fast enough.

It is no secret that the number of Catholic priests is declining worldwide year on year. It is getting harder for a Catholic priest to minister to multiple parishes. Do you foresee a day when a priest can use AI to write up a homily or administer some of the sacraments with these technologies? Do you think the physical persona of a Catholic priest or nun can ever be replaced by technology?

So there are several questions here. The first is, yes, priests are already using AI to write up a homily, especially Magisterium AI, because they know it’s accurate. I know some priests that use chat GPT also. If it helps, fine. I think it can be helpful.

But I don’t know if people can relate to a homily written by an AI. It depends on how it’s done and if whether it’s edited correctly.

But sure, you can look up facts and you can find out what other popes or famous saints have said about this issue.

I know a lot of priests are using it. A lot of bishops are using magisterium AI also. Now, on ministering some of the sacraments, Cardinal Ladaria, who was in charge of the doctrine of the faith, during the pandemic was asked about this and he consulted Pope Francis and the answer is no.

As priests, we cannot administer the sacraments except in person. People asked me if they could go to confession or over Zoom. And I said, no, you have to be in my presence.

And that would be the easiest one to do with technology, the other ones you can’t. I was in Rome during the pandemic and we had to close the churches, but we continued to celebrate mass, just the priests among ourselves.

And we had it recorded on a webcam and we actually got quite a few people that would follow the mass through the network, through the webcam.

It was a completely unique situation and the Pope gave a special dispensation to do that, but once we were able to come back to present, in persona, in person, we can’t do that anymore. And of course the other baptism, confirmation, those things have to be done also in person.

Do you think the physical persona of a Catholic priest or not can ever be replaced by AI? No, I don’t.

I think that we can use AI to help us achieve our goals, but I don’t think that we could ever be replaced. I know that there have been several attempts at this in Germany, for example, not in the Catholic Church and the Lutheran Church.

A priest had a service that was created by an AI. And it was cool to see how we could use these technologies, but most of the people said it was a waste of time. They didn’t like it. They felt that it was soulless and very cold, and I don’t think the experiment had much success.

God created man with all his vices and virtues. The man is also unique and the world is a beautiful place because of all the diversity in thinking. Do you foresee that more dependence on technologies like AI makes us less diverse, more machine-like in thinking, and also less dependent on him?

No, I don’t. I think that it depends on us how we use the technology.

Like I’ve always said, the technology is not inherently good or evil. It’s how we use it. There have been news items where people use social media in order to enhance or support their own views without looking at other views. That’s not good. When you have newsfeed from Google or from Facebook, it basically gives you what you want to hear. That’s not good. So, excuse me. What I try to do in my class is to help the students learn how to think critically. Critical thinking is a tool that we need to develop and we need to use in today’s society more than ever. Critical thinking will help us use technologies, but will always be separate from them. Will always be autonomous from them.

Therefore, I don’t think that diversity will go out because of that. We are dependent on God in a metaphysical way, but we often don’t recognize that. I don’t think the introduction of the machine is going to make us less dependent on him. I think we need to understand that our dependence on him is a metaphysical dependence. That’s not going to go away through the use of AI.

The  Catholic Church uses specific terminology and so does technology. Both seem to be distinct from each other. Are you doing some work to bridge this gap? Can you kindly share that?

Yes. I see my job primarily as translating terminology of the richness of the Catholic tradition and tradition and words that the tech industry can understand.

Many people that I come across and speak with who come from a tech background appreciate the fact that I’m taking time and trying to understand their point of view and put it in a way, sorry, put my response or my concept in a way that they can understand. Once they understand the terminology, they appreciate it. They see how it works. They see the concept. Unfortunately, this is a recent turn of events in the Catholic Church.

The Catholic Church has been a leader in the field of communications for almost 2,000 years, because it has understood the importance of communicating the good news to people. In whatever language and whatever context the missionaries would go off into foreign lands, and they tried to make the good news available to the people that they would find there. That was just true in the 15th century, but even recently, up until I would say maybe 50 years ago, after World War II, the Pope Pius XII was the first person to use the radio. It’s ironic that we missed the boat in terms of AI and new technologies, and we’re trying to catch up now and make our voice heard.

Again, I mentioned I think that’s why Pope Francis went to the G7 in Italy last month. We have so much to say. We’ve been studying the human condition for 2,000 years. We’re the longest standing institution in the world today, perhaps second to the Jewish religion, but as an institution, because the Jewish religion has several different institutional entities within it. The Pope is a symbol of the Catholic Church. Islam does not. They have imams and of course the prophet, but the Catholic Church has always had one voice, the Pope, representing the richness of our tradition. We’re playing catch up. We should be in the forefront of these technologies, especially of AI, but we’re not. I applaud the efforts of someone like Matthew Sanders who’s taking AI, putting it to use for the Catholic Church and the Catholic Mission.

There are other people, even Archbishop Palia, with his Rome call, Father Benanti, who’s a pioneer, who coined the term Algo Ethics, instead of Algo Rhythms. Bishop Barron here in the United States has a huge social media presence, and there are others that we can look at. But it is certainly important today we need to do more.

Can you please share a message for our readers on how you see the next few years of AI, becoming more and more prevalent from the perspective of Catholics?

Okay, Tom, anyone who tells you they know what the next five years hold for AI, they’re wrong, because there’s no way that we can predict what’s going to happen. I mean, probably one of the best is Ray Kurzweil in terms of his track record, but I hear a lot of people tell me, you know, we’re going to be here within five years. This is what AI is going to be doing in five years.

Elon Musk just came out, I think, two weeks ago and said that Chat GPT will have human-level intelligence within four years, I think he said. And then within a year after that, it will have a level of intelligence of the entire human race. Elon likes to make these kinds of statements because they’re exciting and they’re provocative and I just don’t know.

But I can tell you there’s going to be an exponential increase in the capacity of AI. And again, I agree with Eliezer. What we get to artificial general intelligence, and Sam Altman says this is probably about 10 years away.

And he should know because he’ll be one of the first there. We’ll immediately get to artificial super intelligence, which is a term coined by Nick Brostrom, who used to teach at Oxford University and wrote a book called Superintelligence.

Now, once we get to super intelligence, then that’s a game changer. Then we just have to see what’s going to happen with that.

Some ask me if I’m optimistic or am pessimistic. And I say I’m hopeful. The Catholic Priest, I think, has to be hopeful that we’re going to use this for our benefit and not for our demise. And I think that it’s natural for the human beings to use technology in order to achieve their goals and not the contrary.

But as Max Tegmark said in our debate at MIT, it does depend on us. He’s absolutely right. Well, indirectly it depends on God, but God has allowed us to invent this technology, and therefore I consider it part of his provenance. But I said that in our debate, and Max said, oh, yes, but it depends on us, what we do with it. He’s absolutely right. So I don’t want to be naive.

I don’t want to sound like I don’t know where this is going. The market force is a tremendous force behind these growing technologies. And then, of course, we have all kinds of different fields in which they are used.

One, unfortunately, is the military.

And so there’s a lot of incentive to use it for military use. But I think as Catholics, we should not put our heads in the sand. We should not pretend like this isn’t happening. We should be conscientious of how we use it, and we should be ambitious to use it for the mission of the Church.

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CERN, the European Organization for Nuclear Research, is home to the largest machine in the world, conducting complex scientific experiments to provide insights into the fundamental building blocks of our universe. Housing 17000 scientists from 70 countries, costing $5.5 billion a year to operate and spread across a 27 kilometer long tunnel, the particle accelerator’s purpose is exactly what its name suggests; it accelerates protons and other subatomic particles at the speed of light, making them collide with each other to discover what is popularly being referred to as the God particle.

Rewind to the creation of our Universe, estimated to be 13.73 billion years old, it is believed to have taken many thousand years for electrons to be trapped in orbits around nuclei, forming the first atoms in existence. The larger than life image of human existence under an arena of planets and stars, the Sun and Moon suspended in space, the magnificence of the aurora borealis, the mysterious black holes…………………..have all have been projected into our spectrum, by what we firmly believe as the intentional works of God.

The wonder of life as we experience today, the scent of roses, the break of dawn, the whisper of wind, unearthing of diamonds, honey from bees, water from rivers, fruit from trees, the magic of monsoons and the seasons of experience, deemed accidental by skeptics and commercialized by market dynamics, have been delivered to us free on a divine platter, to fill the souls and stimulate the minds of humanity. The expression of intent behind nature’s unconditional gifts, mesmerising beauty and infinite goodness will continue to remain a mystery, despite eons of scientific experiments, research and academic knowledge.

Advancement in science, especially in the areas of artificial intelligence, super computers, smart phones, weaponry, space travel, special economic zones, fashion and the internet, is highly commendable. But in a world rippled with growing waves of depression, disease, disaster, destruction and desolation, it might be worthwhile for us to think through our present lives and the future, from a religious and spiritual perspective.

Science vs spirituality, artificial vs natural, mechanistic vs biological, profit centered vs holistic growth, war vs peace, individual vs collective, complex vs simple…………….the polarized framework of choice haunts most of us. Does a framework exist to guide us? Where do we go for counsel? Is there a middle path to explore? Can a machine discover a God particle?

Here are some thoughts for us to reflect on:

Algorithms and us

An algorithm is defined as set of commands that must be followed when solving a problem or generating an outcome. Like recipes; the choice of ingredients, the cooking time, type of cookware…………..and importantly the love and passion of its creator, determines the experience of those at the other end of the recipe. The joy of a mother seeing her children relish a homemade meal, while staying healthy, is immeasurable.

In the spectrum of science, the intention and ingredients behind a creation and its potential outcome is of absolute importance. A simple thumb rule, of building a product, project or service, is to consider the greater good of its users. The choice is within us as producers or consumers.

Contrary to this belief however, most politicians, industrialists, technocrats, lawyers, medical practioners, bankers and power brokers look at short cuts to success, fill their pockets rather than their souls and misuse the divine power bestowed upon them when they came into this world.

Without passing the hot potato however to others, we must understand that the power to take the stairway to heaven or the abyss towards hell, bring light to the world or burn it down and spread joy rather than sadness, wrests within us. Our very own Divine algorithm!

In the Bible, Isaiah Chapter 45, Verse 7-8 says, “I form the light, and create darkness: I make peace, and create evil: I the LORD do all these things. Drop down, ye heavens, from above, and let the skies pour down righteousness: let the earth open and let them bring forth salvation, and let righteousness spring up together; I the LORD have created it”.

Computers take commands from algorithms, humans have Commandments

It’s always difficult to forget what our parents drilled down into us; you are what you eat or treat your brain like a garden and you reap what you sow. We all know the dark side of technology, but regrettably fail to realise that there lies a deep chasm between the gates of the internet and gates of heaven. We are witness everyday to the dark side of technology and its harmful effects on society.

Thanks heavens, we have the Ten Commandments for us to restrain and restrict our moral choices and behaviour. A simple rule of not coveting our neighbours wives or goods has a broader meaning for individuals, companies, institutions and countries. But are we conscious about these choices in the careers we choose, the decisions we take, the words we use and the actions we pursue.

The ancient Egyptians lived life according to the 42 laws of Ma’at which have the same ingredients as our commandments.

Artificial Intelligence versus Supreme Intelligence

With the onset of modern technological applications that seeming make our work easier and faster, many of us are probably at crossroads as how we can adopt these technologies for our homework, research, creativity, decision making and more.

Artificial intelligence (AI) technology allows computers and machines to simulate or mimic human intelligence and problem-solving tasks. While a doctor can use AI and advanced technology for diagnosis, research and analysis, the human touch of a doctor is irreplaceable. The healing touch of a conscious doctor and his/her empathy towards their patients will have no computer equal.

But what good is the consciousness of our doctors, if the patient doesn’t have the same faith and belief system. It takes two to tango right, and how often have we heard the common phrase, ‘Sparks fly when you two get together’.

In our everyday lives, we all experience the creation of sparks, when two or more like-minded, harmonic forces interact with each other. Friends, families, couples, communities and organisations produce positive outcomes when there is union in the fields they exist in.

The uniqueness of the human being lies in our divine DNA, our undying spirit, our empathy towards each other, our conscience, our feeling of pain, our vivid dreams…………….all extensions of the works the supreme intelligence of God.

Stab a computer in the back and you get a blunt knife, stab a human and you get blood on your hands and an everlasting feeling of guilt!

The small six inch screen vs God’s infinite canvas

The golden ratio is a mathematical connection between two aspects of an object. The number keeps the universe from colliding into black holes, allows trees to grow without obstruction, keeps the human body in balance, defines natural patterns, is the phenomena behind the connection between wind and waves……the list is endless.

It offers an intrinsic and foundational perspective to musicians, artists, architects, agriculturists, storytellers, designers and every one of us, and for everything we do.

The harmonious framework of the Golden Ratio broadens our perspective towards an inclusive and selfless mode of existence, unfolding for us our relation to the larger universe, micro & macro organisms, earth and heaven, physical and metaphysical or just entropy and syntropy.

It expands our frame of thought, from the mechanical and almost robotic interaction with a small six inch screen, to a more original, natural and enlightening exchange with the canvas of God’s wondrous creation.

In recent times certain industrialists and technocrats have been advocating an 18 hour work day for their workers. Would we want our loved ones to engage with their phones and laptops or have spirited conversations at the dining table, do we want to be trapped under the scrutiny of the internet or released into the beauty of nature, do we want to feel depressive by the problems of the world or expressive with the divine gifts of God.

Freedom versus Freewill

Fr. Sean O’laoire, who runs a spiritual community in America, has an easy way of understanding the difference between freedom and freewill. He says, “There is an important difference between free will – the ability to do as I please – and freedom – the ability to do as pleases God. Free will is a faculty that can be used for good or bad, for building or destroying. Freedom, on the other hand, is always good because it is the essence of the soul and the object of God’s kingdom.”

The words, “Thy kingdom come, thy will be done on Earth as it is in Heaven”, has a strong and meaningful message to us on our choices between freewill and freedom.

Every choice we make – in thought, word and deed – will have corresponding outcomes. A pause before harsh words, a meaningful thought or mindful action, can define the impact on people, places and planets around us.

It’s time to put the ‘we’ before the ‘I’, the soul and spirit in the body, the human before machine, light over darkness, faith over fear and freedom over free will.

“It’s no longer I that liveth, but Christ that liveth in me”

Peter Abreo currently works on habitat restoration and conservation projects around the Eastern Himalayas. He recently quit a three decade corporate career to pursue his interests in writing, music and spending time with nature. He can be reached at peter.abreo@gmail.com

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By Tony Magliano.

Fast-moving advancements in science and technology grab our attention, spark fascination, and receive automatic acceptance within our modern societies which crave new things, quick results, and instant gratification. Within such an atmosphere there is often little time given to examine the pros and cons of budding technological innovations before they become mainstream – for good, or for bad. And the quickly developing world of artificial intelligence (AI) is a prime example.

In an insightful and challenging effort to stay morally ahead of the AI curve, Pope Francis has penned “Artificial Intelligence and Peace” as his Jan. 1, 2024, World Day of Peace message (see: https://bitly.ws/37M6b). 

Regarding AI the pope writes, we “cannot presume a priori [from logical reasoning based on self-evident truths] that its development will make a beneficial contribution to the future of humanity and to peace among peoples. That a positive outcome will only be achieved if we show ourselves capable of acting responsibly and respect such fundamental human values as ‘inclusion, transparency, security, equity, privacy and reliability.’”

“Freedom and peaceful coexistence are threatened whenever human beings yield to the temptation to selfishness, self-interest, the desire for profit and the thirst for power. We thus have a duty to broaden our gaze and to direct techno-scientific research towards the pursuit of peace and the common good, in the service of the integral development of individuals and communities,” writes the pope.

“Ethical considerations should also be taken into account from the very beginning of research, and continue through the phases of experimentation, design, production, distribution and marketing. This is the approach of ethics by design, and it is one in which educational institutions and decision-makers have an essential role to play.”

But when ethics by design is not employed, we endanger the truth! A serious example raised by Pope Francis is found in the lies of misinformation—”fake”news.” And AI is becoming so technically sophisticated that it is becoming increasingly difficult to distinguish real news from fake news. We need to carefully discern, fact-check, and consult highly reputable sources (see: https://bitly.ws/37Lwe).

Turning to AI and its increasing role in weapon development and use, the Holy Father writes, “In these days, as we look at the world around us, there can be no escaping serious ethical questions related to the armaments sector. The ability to conduct military operations through remote control systems has led to a lessened perception of the devastation caused by those weapon systems and the burden of responsibility for their use, resulting in an even more cold and detached approach to the immense tragedy of war” (listen to “The Take” https://bitly.ws/37Iux).

“Research on emerging technologies in the area of so-called Lethal Autonomous Weapon Systems, including the weaponization of artificial intelligence, is a cause for grave ethical concern. Autonomous weapon systems can never be morally responsible subjects.”

Warning: As weapon systems become increasingly autonomous, it is reasonable to see these weapons developing to a point where humans could lose partial or even full control of them. The 1983 movie “War Games” presents a realistically chilling scenario of humans initially losing computer control of a nuclear weapons system (see movie trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bymdsSvLfJY).

Amidst these necessary warnings Pope Francis has raised regarding AI, he adds, “On a more positive note, if artificial intelligence were used to promote integral human development, it could introduce important innovations in agriculture, education and culture, an improved level of life for entire nations and peoples, and the growth of human fraternity and social friendship. In the end, the way we use it to include the least of our brothers and sisters, the vulnerable and those most in need, will be the true measure of our humanity.”

Tony Magliano is an internationally syndicated Catholic social justice and peace columnist. He is available to speak at diocesan or parish gatherings. Tony can be reached at tmag6@comcast.net.

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A friend recently introduced me to an intriguing image that sparked my curiosity and led me on a path of discovery. The image, Our Lady of Silence (La Madonna del Silenzio), depicts Mary with her index finger gently poised in front of her closed lips, conveying a powerful message. Created in a traditional Byzantine style, the original image was commissioned by Fr. Emiliano Antenucci a Capuchin friar in 2010 and was completed after nine months of work by the Benedictine nuns of San Giulio d’Orta in the Italian province of Novara. This image struck a chord within me, prompting me to delve deeper into its meaning and significance.

I soon learned that this image holds a special place in the heart of Pope Francis, who has a profound devotion to two icons: the icon of sleeping St. Joseph and Our Lady of Silence. The Holy Father’s admiration for Our Lady of Silence is so strong that he had a message inscribed on the back of the original icon: “Don’t speak badly of others.” In fact, he has even placed copies of the icon in prominent locations, including near the elevator of the Apostolic Palace in the Vatican, as a gentle reminder to visitors to avoid engaging in gossip and spreading rumours.

Gossip—yes, it is unfortunate that we have all encountered or participated in idle chatter, spreading lies, exaggerations, harsh attacks, and uncharitable remarks. The reasons are myriad like judgement, character assassination, fear, jealousy, our own weaknesses reflected in others, hiding our own inadequacies, biasness, political affiliations, to name a few. It is reminiscent of a childhood game called “Chinese whispers,” where a message is distorted as it is passed from one person to another in whispers. St. Thomas Aquinas, the renowned theologian, and doctor of the Church, eloquently identified various forms of gossip, such as reviling, backbiting, calumny, detraction, tale-bearing, derision, and cursing, highlighting their unjust nature in his treatise on justice. The Catechism of the Catholic Church includes gossip under its treatment of the Eighth Commandment, “You shall not bear false witness against your neighbour.”

In our current era of constant social media exposure and the lure of seeking validation through “likes” and emoticons, gossip has found new avenues to flourish and we at times behave like modern day Pharisees. With the rapid dissemination of information and amplifying our emotions and biases, gossip can easily permeate our lives, fuelling division and animosity. Sadly, I have witnessed this phenomenon within the Church itself, where Catholics have engaged in disrespectful and disloyal conversations regarding the Magisterium, doubting and questioning the Papacy. The divide over different forms of the Mass and the mode of receiving Holy Communion has further fuelled debates, often forgetting that true humility and reverence originate from the depths of the heart and spirit, not from external practices, we see it in parishes and parish council settings sadly cursing and insisting on transfer appointments of priests whilst parishioners are sucked by the herd mentality of social media gossip or hearsay without knowing or verifying the realities. Even if it were true, who are we to judge looking at the speck of dust in the other and not the plank in our own eyes. Regrettably, while engaging in such discussions, we have forgotten to guard our tongues outside the church walls, spreading hatred, fear, misinformation, temptation, and erroneous teachings, while ruining reputations.

In light of these challenges, let us explore some practical tips to cultivate virtuous behaviour and promote a culture of silence, respect, and love:

1. The Practice of Silence with Love: Breaking the noise habit, fasting from gossip, and seeking moments of silence are essential for our spiritual lives. Silence fosters prayer, holiness, and the ability to listen to God’s voice, discern His will, and live in the present moment. Pope Francis in one of his Sunday Angelus messages said that “Gossip is so rotten. At the beginning, it seems to be something enjoyable and fun, like a piece of candy. But at the end, it fills the heart with bitterness and also poisons us.” Gossip can lead us to an addiction cycle of self-loathing, judgement, sin, and guilt. The Holy Father in an introduction written in the book, Don’t Speak Ill of Others, by Capuchin Father Emiliano Antenucci who commissioned the image of Our Lady of Silence quoted St.Augustine “If you keep silent, keep silent by love: if you speak, speak by love; if you correct, correct by love; if you pardon, pardon by love; let love be rooted in you, and from the root nothing but good can grow. Love and do what you will.” The Pope also quoted St. Mother Teresa of Kolkata’s familiar phrase as a lesson in holiness accessible to every Christian: “The fruit of silence is prayer; the fruit of prayer is faith; the fruit of faith is love; the fruit of love is service; the fruit of service is peace. One begins with silence and arrives at charity toward others,” he said.
2. Sifting Past Sensationalized Headlines and Verifying News Sources: In today’s world, we are inundated with information from various sources, often biased and lacking reliability. Instead of succumbing to the allure of sensationalized headlines, we should take the time to verify the accuracy and credibility of the news we encounter. Pope Francis says “Gossiping is terrorism because the person who gossips is like a terrorist who throws a bomb and walks away, destroying; they destroy with their tongue, they don’t make peace.”
3. Praying Instead of Speaking Ill of Others and giving the benefit of doubt: When faced with the temptation to speak ill of someone, especially when hurt or insulted, we should turn to prayer. Refraining from giving in to the urge to retaliate or engage in gossip not only demonstrates moral integrity but also preserves the dignity of the person being discussed. Correctly using our words, Pope Francis says that. “Not, speaking ill of others is not “just a moral act,” and when we speak ill of others, we sully the image of God that is in each person.” The correct use of words is important,” Pope Francis also says that. “Words can be kisses, caresses, medicine, but they also can be knives, swords, or bullets. “Words, he said, can be used to bless or to curse, “they can be closed walls or open window.” Praying for the other person helps us in our healing and letting go of your grudges and hurts, not always easy but therapeutic to bring us peace. St Gertrude the Great said, “the more we pray for someone, the more that blessing rests on him, for no prayer made in faith remains unanswered, even if the manner of its answering is hidden from us.”
4. Applying Socrates’ Test of Three: The ancient Greek philosopher Socrates proposed a test consisting of three questions before sharing information about others: Is it true? Is it good? Is it useful? If the answer to these questions is negative, it is best to refrain from passing on the information. Pope Francis believes that if each one of us purposefully avoids gossip, we will embark on a beautiful path toward sanctity.
5. Confronting Gossip with Dialogue and Offering a Different Perspective: When confronted with gossip, whether in person or on social media, it is crucial to respond in a spirit of dialogue and understanding. It is easy to analyse through our sometimes-myopic mind and not understanding the bigger picture or getting the full story. Engaging in respectful conversations, offering alternative viewpoints, and correcting rumours with charitable clarity can help break the cycle of gossip and foster unity and empathy.

Lastly, as a profound devotion to Our Lady of Silence, we can consecrate ourselves to her, seeking her intercession and guidance in taming our tongues and cultivating virtuous behaviour. This act of consecration brings with it a multitude of virtues, including silence, listening, humility, joy, attention to others, patience, balance, docility, stability, purity, trust, and mercy. As Pope Francis eloquently states, “I am convinced that if each one of us would purposely avoid gossip, in the end, we would become a saint! It’s a beautiful path!”

Prayer of Consecration to Our Lady of Silence

Oh, Virgin Mary, Mother of Silence,
I consecrate all of my life to you.
Deign to impress upon my heart the Heart of your Son Jesus,
who died and rose again for me.
In reply to the angel’s joyful annunciation, you said, “Fiat”;
at the wedding at Cana, you taught me to do everything the Lord tells me to do;
under the cross, you gave me an example of unity with Jesus
who was obedient to the Father.
Our Lady of Silence, channel of grace,
give me each day the grace of sincere conversion
and of stability in my vocation.
Mary, dew of divine Beauty,
reveal how you are a masterpiece of holiness,
created at the high price of the blood of Christ.
Oh Mary, Cathedral of Silence,
make this prayer resound in my heart:
“Be not afraid, because you are my child,
and you are loved by the heavenly Father.”
Holy Mary, lifeboat of souls, bridge between Heaven and Earth,
guide me, together with the angels and saints,
to build the kingdom of God on Earth,
so that I may live in the constant presence of the Most Holy Trinity
and desire, for others and for myself,
the Eternal peace and joy of the Heavenly Jerusalem.
Amen.

Lavoisier Fernandes, born and raised in Goa, is currently based in West London. His faith is “work in progress”- and a lifelong journey. He has always been fascinated by the Catholic faith, thanks to his Salesian schooling. He’s passionate about podcasting, theology, the papacy, and volunteering. He has hosted ‘Talking Faith’ series for Heavens Road FM, Catholic Radio, connecting with ordinary men and women within the Catholic faith, other faiths and examining issues affecting both the Church and society. He has also been a host on Shalom World Catholic TV for two episodes of the ‘Heart Talk’ series. He presently contributes for the Goa Diocesan magazine Renevacao.

References:
Image credit Facebook Fra Emiliano Antenucc i(aleteia.org)
www.newadvent.org/summa/3072.htm
The Catechism of the Catholic Church (CCC 2477)

The “Poison” Of Gossip According To Pope Francis

https://aleteia.org/2019/04/16/consecrate-yourself-to-our-lady-of-silence-with-this-prayer/

Cut the gossip, says the pope

https://cruxnow.com/vatican/2021/01/words-can-be-kisses-but-also-swords-pope-writes-in-new-book
https://aleteia.org/2015/01/16/the-sin-of-gossip/

The post Embracing Silence Over Gossip in an Age of Social Media appeared first on Indian Catholic Matters.

Fr. Cedric Prakash SJ –

These are critical times in India’s history: in fact, whether we would like to accept it or not, it is a break or make moment! At stake is the future of Indian democracy based on the visionary Constitution of India, rooted in the four non-negotiables of justice, liberty equality and fraternity; at the stake is the sanctity of the pluralistic fabric of a nation ensconced in the inviolable dignity of every Indian: child, woman and man; at stake are the fundamental rights protected and guaranteed to every single citizen of India; at stake is the very idea, wealth and beauty of India!

Fascists are known for their highly manipulative strategies which are meticulously planned. Top on their priority list is to throttle freedom of speech and expression, to curb every form of dissent and to do all they can to hide the plain truth and grim reality. They leave no stone unturned in order to attain their insidious ends: they threaten, they coopt, they compromise, they foist false cases, they intimidate and harass, use draconian laws like the UAPA to curb dissent; they misuse official agencies like the ED, the NIA, the CBI and even the police, to hound those who take visible and vocal stands; they incarcerate and even kill. It is not easy for journalists in India today to speak truth to power: journalism is under great duress!

It did not come as a great surprise that in the World Press Freedom Index, 2023, released last May, that India had reached an abysmal low rank of 161 out of 180 countries; slipping eleven notches from its previous ranking; freedom of the press in India is much worse than even its neighbours like Pakistan and Sri Lanka. This does not augur well for the future of democracy! Once the fourth pillar of democracy is throttled, made subservient to the whims and facies of the political masters, it does not leave much of an imagination to realise, that more than half the battle is lost.

The World Press Index 2023, says it all, as it minces no words commenting on the pathetic state of the press in India stating, “the violence against journalists, the politically partisan media and the concentration of media ownership all demonstrate that press freedom is in crisis in “the world’s largest democracy”.

The highly professional and authentically objective report continues to say, “with an average of three or four journalists killed in connection with their work every year, India is one of the world’s most dangerous countries for the media. Journalists are exposed to all kinds of physical violence including police violence, ambushes by political activists, and deadly reprisals by criminal groups or corrupt local officials. Supporters of Hindutva, the ideology that spawned the Hindu far right, wage all-out online attacks on any views that conflict with their thinking. Terrifying coordinated campaigns of hatred and calls for murder are conducted on social media, campaigns that are often even more violent when they target women journalists, whose personal data may be posted online as an additional incitement to violence.

Where then, does Catholic journalism stand, in the wake of the onslaught that media in India in general, is subject to? Do they have the courage to exercise the prophetic mission to speak truth to power? Or have they also succumbed to the fears and duress to which media in general has fallen to? Questions which are rhetoric in nature, because the answers are obvious! By and large (barring a few notable exceptions) Catholic journalists and Catholic media in general, have abdicated their prime responsibility of speaking truth to power!

In January 2004, the General Assembly of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of India (CBCI) held in Thrissur, Kerala, produced a path-breaking statement, ‘Called to be a Communicating Church’ in which they highlighted “that media have a prophetic role, indeed a vocation: to speak out against the false gods and ideals of the day — materialism, hedonism, consumerism and narrow nationalism”. The statement called for a Pastoral Plan for Communications which was meant to be implemented in every Diocese in India. How many of our Dioceses are today actually implementing this plan with empowered Communications Commissions (and with lay members) to monitor them? How many have spokespersons, particularly in the vernacular?

It is true that journalism today, is under duress! But should Catholic journalists also enter this comfort zone and continue with its projects, productions and ‘feel-good’ ‘sitting-on-the-fence’ communications?

Catholic journalists must have the prophetic courage to take on the fascist and fundamentalist forces which are working overtime, to destroy the sanctity of the Constitution and the secular, pluralistic fabric of our beloved nation.

Indian Catholic journalists must take a cue from and be inspired by St Titus Brandsma. St. Titus, a Dutch Carmelite priest was a fearless, prophetic journalist. He was spiritual adviser to the Dutch Association of Catholic Journalists in 1935 and became its president after the Nazi invasion of the Netherlands. He worked with the Dutch bishops’ in crafting their message opposing Nazi ideology and the forced publication of propaganda in Catholic newspapers. Following Germany’s invasion of the Netherlands in 1940, Brandsma defended the freedom of Catholic education and the Catholic press against Nazi pressure. In the face of great risk, he visited the offices of Catholic media outlets around the country over the course of ten days, encouraging editors to resist pressure to publish Nazi propaganda. His actions drew the ire of the Nazi regime who arrested him in 1942. Several months later, he was transported to the Dachau concentration camp where he was killed by a lethal injection of carbolic acid. He had to pay the ultimate price for his visible and vocal stand against Nazim. St. John Paul II, who beatified him on 3 November 1985, defined Brandsma as a “valiant journalist” and a “martyr of freedom of expression against the tyranny of the dictatorship.”

The poem ‘Freedom’ of our Nobel laureate Rabindranath Tagore, should inspire Catholic journalists to move into a more meaningful and fearless realm:

Freedom from fear is the freedom

I claim for you, my motherland!

Freedom from the burden of the ages, bending your head,

breaking your back, blinding your eyes to the beckoning

call of the future;

Freedom from the shackles of slumber wherewith

you fasten yourself in night’s stillness,

mistrusting the star that speaks of truth’s adventurous paths;

freedom from the anarchy of destiny

whole sails are weakly yielded to the blind uncertain winds,

and the helm to a hand ever rigid and cold as death.

Freedom from the insult of dwelling in a puppet’s world,

where movements are started through brainless wires,

repeated through mindless habits,

where figures wait with patience and obedience for the

master of show,

to be stirred into a mimicry of life.

It is certainly not easy to be a journalist in India today: one thing is clear, that if you stick your neck out, if you are visible and vocal, if you stand up for truth and justice; you will have to pay the price: and that price is heavy indeed! It is however worth it, for the future of our country!  Brandsma and Tagore show the way!

Fr. Cedric Prakash SJ is a human rights, reconciliation and peace activist/writer. He is the recipient of several international and national awards including ICPA’s ‘Louis Careno Award’ in 2021. Contact: cedricprakash@gmail.com

The post Speak Truth to Power and Pay the Price! appeared first on Indian Catholic Matters.

In the late 1960s, “artificial birth control” dominated the headlines. It was so much a moral and ethical impasse that it challenged the basic fabric and foundation of society, which was “the family”. The world and society expected the church to change and give way to this new method as against to the age-old method of natural family planning that was in sync with God’s desire for married life. Then the summer of 1968 came which stunned the world including Catholics when Pope St. Paul VI in his encyclical Humanae Vitae, “of Human life” forcefully reaffirmed the church’s previously stated position on the use of artificial birth control, calling it “intrinsically wrong”. The Church till date gets its stick of criticism for this teaching and for being out of sync with reality, and science and not moving with the times.

Fast forward and more than fifty years on, with the rapid paced advancement of technology, the world is dominated by another ethically (similar sounding) emergence called “artificial intelligence” or AI as it is commonly referred. More recently Pope Francis was engulfed in fake news of an AI image which generated Pope Francis dressed in a Jet-Puffed, winter-white, ankle-length hooded down jacket which went viral, well I thought Pope Francis looked super cool and certainly in vogue in this fake image, but people got tricked that it was real.

I am not technologically savvy as I would like to be, but artificial intelligence cannot be missed and is the talk of the town (i.e., every social media set-up, conversation etc.) and is part of the “vogue culture” which for all its good we at times get sucked into. In-fact I was introduced (in a positive way) to the concept of AI within the Church where the priest informed us in the congregation that his homily was written using AI technology whilst questioning and challenging us about its ethical and moral use. So also, don’t get me wrong, I am all for technology and I find it fascinating and brilliant, especially during the Covid pandemic where it was an immense blessing dealing with my aged vulnerable parents back home.

Just as with Science where the Catholic Church has been the patron of sciences wit), acoustics foundational contributions from catholic scientist like Galileo (despite his trial),acoustics (Mersenne), mineralogy (Agricola), modern chemistry (Lavoisier)-certainly not me here, modern anatomy (Vesalius), stratigraphy (Steno), bacteriology (Kircher and Pasteur), genetics (Mendel), analytical geometry (Descartes), heliocentric cosmology (Copernicus), atomic theory (Boscovich), and the Big Bang theory on the origins of the universe by the Belgian Catholic priest Lemaitre. So also, the Catholic Church does not necessarily view technology as evil but will not tolerate the use of technological know-how for adulterated purposes. As far as the internet is concerned, social media, blogs, and podcasts can be used as powerful instruments to preach the gospel. Pope St. John Paul II said we care called: “To use science and technology in a full and constructive way, while recognizing that the findings of science always have to be evaluated in the light of the centrality of the human person, of the common good and of the inner purpose of creation” (“Common Declaration on Environmental Ethics”, 10 June 2002). In his last encyclical letter Caritas in Veritate, Pope Benedict XVI said: “Technology enables us to exercise dominion over matter, to reduce risks, to save labor, to improve our conditions of life. It touches the heart of the vocation of human labor: in technology, seen as the product of his genius, man recognizes himself and forges his own humanity” (CV, 69).

On February 28, 2020, the Catholic Church through its Pontifical Academy for Life came out with the “Rome’ call for AI ethics” to promote “algor-ethics”, namely the ethical use of AI. This was further advanced with support from Jewish and Muslim leaders through the Abrahamic commitment to the Rome Call for AI Ethics co-signed on 10th January 2023. While software vendors Microsoft and IBM were the first two enterprises to support the Rome Call, its ethos is aimed more broadly at any organization using the technology, in enterprises, governments, and civil society. The Rome Call itself consists of a preamble and six succinct principles that supporters commit to. In their entirety, they are:

1. Transparency: AI systems must be understandable to all.
2. Inclusion: These systems must not discriminate against anyone because every human being has equal dignity.
3. Responsibility: There must always be someone who takes responsibility for what a machine does.
4. Impartiality: AI systems must not follow or create biases.
5. Reliability: AI must be reliable.
6. Security and privacy: These systems must be secure and respect the privacy of users.

In conclusion, the Church whilst embracing the enormous benefits of AI, threads the route of caution, vigilance and suggests its ethical use through the framework provided in the “Rome’ call for AI ethics”. In one of his weekly audiences Pope Francis called for a global reflection on the potential dangers of artificial intelligence (AI), noting the new technology’s “disruptive possibilities and ambivalent effects and recalls the need to be vigilant and to work so that a logic of violence and discrimination does not take root in the production and use of such devices, at the expense of the most fragile and excluded”. The Holy Father when on to add “the urgent need to orient the concept and use of artificial intelligence in a responsible way, so that it may be at the service of humanity and the protection of our common home, requires that ethical reflection be extended to the sphere of education and law”.

Lavoisier Fernandes, born and raised in Goa, is currently based in West London. His faith is “work in progress”- and a lifelong journey. He has always been fascinated by the Catholic faith, thanks to his Salesian schooling. He’s passionate about podcasting, theology, the papacy, and volunteering. He has hosted ‘Talking Faith’ series for Heavens Road FM, Catholic Radio, connecting with ordinary men and women within the Catholic faith, other faiths and examining issues affecting both the Church and society. He has also been a host on Shalom World Catholic TV for two episodes of the ‘Heart Talk’ series. He presently contributes for the Goa Diocesan magazine Renevacao.

The post The Church and its “Rome Call for AI Ethics” appeared first on Indian Catholic Matters.

India scripted history as Indian Space Research Organisation’s (ISRO) ambitious third Moon mission Chandrayaan-3’s Lander Module (LM) touched down on the lunar surface on Wednesday at 6.04 p.m., making it only the fourth country to accomplish the feat, and first to reach the uncharted south pole of Earth’s only natural satellite.

This comes just days after a Russian probe Luna-25 crashed in the same region.

Following Chandrayaan-3’s Vikram lander’s successful landing on the Moon, the ISRO Chief S Somnath said, “India is now on the Moon!”

Also Read: When ISRO Aimed for the Heavens, A Tiny Church in Kerala Said Amen!

The Catholic Bishop’s Conference of India (CBCI) too joined in the celebrations by congratulating ISRO on its spectacular achievement.

The President of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of India (CBCI), Most Rev. Andrews Thazhath, extended his warmest congratulations to ISRO and the entire nation on the remarkable achievement of the successful landing of Chandrayaan-3 on the lunar surface.

Rev. Andrews said, “The progress made by our scientists and engineers in the field of space research is truly commendable and fills our hearts with pride. The efforts of ISRO and the entire team behind Chandrayaan 3 serve as an inspiration to the entire nation.”

“The pursuit of knowledge and exploration knows no boundaries and brings together people from all walks of life, reflecting the unity in diversity that India represents. We offer our prayers for the continued success of ISRO’s endeavors and for the well-being of our great nation. May this achievement serve as a reminder of what we can accomplish when we come together with a shared vision,” he added.

Pope and the Moon

On the morning of March 9, 2013, the then Argentine Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio (who went on to become Pope Francis) entered the Aula Nervi in the Vatican and read a brief speech before the Cardinals gathered in Rome in the General Congregations preceding the Conclave convened to elect a new Pope, after Benedict XVI had renounced his ministry as Bishop of Rome.

Citing the “Mysterium Lunae,” Cardinal Bergoglio took up an ancient formula already coined by the Greek and Latin Fathers of the early Christian Centuries to indicate the Church’s innermost nature and mystery. For the Christian Fathers of the first Centuries, it was evident that the Church, like the moon, does not shine by its own light and lives only by reflected light when its opaque body is illuminated by the luminous grace of Christ. The same thing was repeated by the Second Vatican Council, whose Dogmatic Constitution Lumen Gentium re-announces to the world already in its first words that “Christ is the light to all men,” and only “a light brightly visible on the countenance of the Church.” (LG, 1).

The Journey of Chandrayaan-3

Chandrayaan-3 was launched on July 14. Before India, only the United States, Russia and China have achieved a soft-landing on the surface of the Earth’s only natural satellite.

ISRO, following the Vikram lander’s successful landing on the Moon, tweeted, “Chandrayaan-3 Mission: ‘India, I reached my destination and you too!’: Chandrayaan-3”

PM Modi congratulated the country on the historic moment of Chandrayaan-3’s landing on the moon. “We are witness to the new flight of new India. New history has been written. India is fully committed to human space flight,” he said.

“On this joyous occasion…I would like to address all the people of the world,” he said. “India’s successful moon mission is not just India’s alone. This is a year in which the world is witnessing India’s G20 presidency. Our approach of one Earth, one family, one future is resonating across the globe.

“This human-centric approach that we present and we represent has been welcome universally. Our moon mission is also based on the same human-centric approach,” Modi added. “Therefore, this success belongs to all of humanity, and it will help moon missions by other countries in the future.”

President Droupadi Murmu said , “Scientists have made history with landing of Chandrayaan-3 on lunar surface; made India proud. Chandrayaan-3 landing a momentous occasion, an event that happens once in lifetime.”

India’s lunar lander consists of three parts: a lander, rover and propulsion module, which provided the spacecraft all the thrust required to traverse the 384,400-kilometer (238,855-mile) void between the moon and Earth.

The lander, called Vikram, completed the precision maneuvers required to make a soft touchdown on the lunar surface after it was ejected from the propulsion module. Tucked inside is Pragyan, a small, six-wheeled rover that will deploy from the lander by rolling down a ramp.

Vikram used its on board thrusters to carefully orient itself as it approached the lunar surface, and it slowly throttled down its engines for a touchdown just after 6 p.m. IST (8:30 a.m. ET) as applause erupted from the mission control room.

The lander, which weighs about 1,700 kilograms (3,748 pounds), and 26-kilogram (57.3-pound) rover are packed with scientific instruments, prepared to capture data to help researchers analyze the lunar surface and deliver fresh insights into its composition.

The team behind Chandrayaan-3’s successful Moon landing and the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) team members took a moment after the landing to acknowledge the hard work that went into making India the first nation to land on the lunar south pole.

The post India Over the Moon! Catholic Church Congratulates ISRO appeared first on Indian Catholic Matters.

The award will be conferred to them on Saturday, 23 September, 2023 during the 28th National Convention of Christian Journalists, organized by the ICPA, scheduled to be held at Ashir Bhawan, Kochi, Kerala.

The jury that decided the award commended Mr Jose Kavi for being an example of “crusading independent journalism in the cause of truth”. The Award will be conferred on Mr Kavi during the 28th National Convention of Christian Journalists, organized by the ICPA, scheduled to be held in Kochi on Saturday, 23 September, 2023.

Scores of cub Journalists have benefited from his teaching and mentoring, making him one of the most loved veteran Journos in the national Capital. Mr. Kavi has played a crucial role in professionalising the Church-based news agencies.

In the last four decades he has made a mark in both secular journalism and in reporting on the Christian world. Mr. Kavi entered the media world as an in-service trainee journalist of SAR-News (South Asian Religious News), run by the ICPA.

The three phases of his professional life have been in the UNI, a major news agency of its time; the UCAN, a pioneering Catholic News Service; and now Matters India, a news portal of great credibility which was launched 11 years ago. Matters India is seen as a window to the Christian world by secular observers.

As India Editor of UCAN (Union of Catholic Asian News), for about 25 years, he single-handedly built up a network of professional journalists covering the whole of India and even Nepal. UCAN-India had links to Bangladesh, Pakistan and Hong Kong. UCAN’s Hong Kong reporters used to sneak into mainland China scouting for stories especially on the “Underground Church” there. UCAN-India used to contextualise these stories in the Indian angle.

Periodic ongoing training was part of the UCAN culture. No wonder, many UCAN Journalists became internationally reputed investigative journalists and many migrated to secular media, with the Gospel values alive in their hearts.

Matters India was a heroic attempt on his part to redefine Church media, regardless of personal pains and sufferings. At a time when Church media used to be dubbed as singing hosanna to priests and the hierarchy, Mr. Kavi dared to correct it, without ever coming to the limelight.

The news portal makes special efforts to bring to the world the atrocities committed against the Church, its institutions, Dalits, Tribals and the marginalised. But for its coverage, many such incidents and instances would have gone unknown to the people.

Mr. Kavi is married to Rosamma, the Chief Nursing Officer of BLK-Max Hospital, Delhi. They have two children. Ashish, the eldest, is an Engineer. Award-winning Malayalam movie actress Archana Kavi is the daughter. He is an unassuming modest person who shuns the limelight, a rare quality among professional Journalists.

ICPA’s SC/ST Reporting Award Goes to Sr Robancy A. Helen

The Indian Catholic Press Association (ICPA) is pleased to announce the ICPA Award for the Best Reportage on Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes for Sr Robancy A. Helen for authentically and consistently being the voice of people’s rights, especially the poor Dalits who are susceptible to exploitation and injustice.

Sr Robancy A. Helen, a Catholic religious nun, belonging to the Messengers of May of Magnificat (MMM), has been regularly contributing to various magazines and news portals on Dalit issues. She has penned more than 150 articles on various issues in five years.

Through the power of reporting, and analytical writings, Sr Robancy amplifies various aspects of Dalits who have been sidelined by the elite, powerful, and societal structures. She critically analyzes the deeper aspects of Dalits’ and Tribals’ exploitation and subjugation; she has extensively written about the injustice they face on many fronts. She has also written many success stories of the Dalit Christians, which had a great impact in her life itself. Her sincerity and perseverance in highlighting the rights of Scheduled Castes/Scheduled Tribes show grit, courage and conviction. Her writings showcase hopes and resilience that the deprived people and communities show despite many challenges, deprivations and exploitation.

The SC/ST Special Award was instituted by the ICPA and sponsored by the CBCI office for Scheduled Castes and Backward Classes to promote the welfare of the marginalized people.  The award will be conferred on Saturday, 23 September, 2023 during the 28th National Convention of Christian Journalists, organized by the ICPA, scheduled to be held at Ashir Bhawan, Kochi, Kerala.

Joseph Gathia bags ICPA Award for Hindi Literature

Joseph Anthony Gathia, an author, journalist, and children’s rights campaigner, has been chosen for the Swami Devanand Chakkungal award for Hindi Literature instituted by the Indian Catholic Press Association (ICPA) and sponsored by the SVD Congregation, Indore.

His articles have been published in major Hindi newspapers: Jansatta (Indian Express group) Nav Bharat Times (The Times of India Group), Dainik Bhaskar, Dainik Hindustan (The Hindustan Times Group), Rajasthan Patrika, Rashtriya Sahara, Sahara Samay, Aaj Samaj, Kuber Times, and many other newspapers.

Joseph Gathia was a Bureau Chief of India’s first Hindi weekly newspaper Chouthi Duniya, a secular publication. Also Gathia has the rare honour of being invited to write for the famous Hindi Magazine Hans edited by renowned Hindi novelist (late) Rupendra Yadav and founded by Prem Chand, the legendary Hindi literary figure.

Gathia began his journalistic journey by joining Francis d’ Sales School of Journalism in New Delhi run by Rev. Fr. John Barrett SJ. After successfully completing the course, Fr. Barrett asked him to work for a Catholic weekly Sanjeevan. He began his career as reporter in 1971 and worked his way up and became editor of the weekly.

Gathia through his writings and campaign in association with the civil liberty groups headed by Justice Tarkunde, Justice Rajender Sachhar, and noted journalist Kuldeep Nayyar influenced the policies of the then government on issues of child labour and compulsory primary education for all children.

Gathia has been a member of many fact-finding committees of human rights groups and was member of the fact-finding committee on Kashmir along with Justice R. Sakha, human rights activist Kannabiran, and Kuldeep Nayyar. In 2002, he was one of the five-member fact-finding team on Gujarat riots.  In 1999  he was a member of a group that  investigated violence against Christians in the Dangs in Gujarat  and Jhabua in Madhya Pradesh.

He has written many books and articles in English and Hindi. The latest book by Gathia is Aadhunik Bharat Nirman main Esaeiyat ka Yogdan (2023).

The award will be conferred on Saturday, 23 September, 2023 during the 28th National Convention of Christian Journalists, organized by the ICPA, scheduled to be held at Ashir Bhawan, Kochi, Kerala.

The post ICPA Awards: Editor Jose Kavi, Writer Sr Robancy & Author Joseph Anthony Bag Prestigious Journalism Accolades appeared first on Indian Catholic Matters.

Introduction

This article presents three widely used Artificial Intelligence (AI) sites that will help in bible study.  AI can assist a person who may be a catechist, bible scholar, priest, writer, student, and every disciple of Jesus to delve deeper into the pages of the bible. One must remember, that AI tools can be used to enhance our bible-study, not replace it. Hence see AI as a tool for study.

Also read: Part I Bible Study: Internet and Artificial Intelligence

There are many AI apps and site available. Here we are presenting three sites that can be helpful. These are:
http://www.biblemate.org
https://bard.google.com
https://openai.com

Some of these sites may need that the user sign in, by creating a user id and password.
Google bard and Biblemate.org – both can be used without a sign in. Simply type <google bard> or <biblemate.org> in the dialog box and it will open itself up for use. Once the site is open, you will see a dialog box where you can insert your question after which you click the submit button. Wait for  a few seconds before the answer comes up on the screen.

Kindly note, the more you refine your question, the more precise and accurate your answer is likely to be. Let us see a few examples.

Q: Summarise the book of Genesis from the bible.
Q: Summary of Genesis chapter 1-2.
Q: What is the significance of Jacob’s ladder?
Q: Summarise the life of Jesus.
Q: What does the Catechism of the Catholic Church teach about abortion.
Q: What is heaven according to the teaching of the Catholic Church.
Q: How many Popes were there with the name Sylvester.
Q: Explain the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary.

The questions can flow according to your imagination. Do not put a limit to your imagination.

Coming to bible study or church teachings or dogmas or doctrine, etc

Self or group Bible study can be done using AI tools. Say for example you want to study the book of the gospel according to John. Keep asking AI all relevant questions about this gospel and read the answers. You can also copy and paste the answers to a Word file for future reference.

Begin your study with a particular book from the bible. It is good to start by asking general questions, such as, the summary of the book, or a gist of the book, when was the book written, who wrote the book, what was the historical context in which the book was written, what is the key words in the book, what is the central message of the book, for whom was the book written, what were some of the problems at the time of writing the book, in which language was the book written, etc. Reading the answers to these questions itself will provide a lot of information for a better understanding of the book.

After you have made a general survey of the book, now go for an in-depth study of the book. You can move chapter-wise or section-wise or theme-wise. You can ask for the general outlay or structure of the book and follow by studying the structure. You can look up for key words in the book and ask for its Greek or Hebrew meanings. You can ask more information about characters in the passages, customs, traditions, etc., that you come across.

You can ask AI to prepare a quiz based on a particular character or chapter or book of the bible. You will be surprised at the results. I asked AI to prepare a quiz based on the first chapter of John’s gospel. It gave me five questions with alternative answers and the correct answers too!!! You can ask AI to re-do the story of the Good Samaritan in today’s context … see what it gives you.

Sometimes AI will tell you that it is not possible to give you the answer because of its limitations. Re-phrase the question and it is likely that you may get an appropriate answer. Sometimes AI may give you a weird answer. Re-phrase the question for a better answer.

What is said about bible study is also true of church teachings or dogmas or doctrine. All you need to do is ask the right question. Keep refining your question. AI will make bible and faith study interesting for you.

Prepare yourself for daily and Sunday mass. Type in the mass readings and ask questions. You will go prepared for the mass and you can also discuss your learning with the preacher after the mass!

Do not be afraid of the questions your child or student may ask you. AI can help you.

Conclusion

AI is opening doors to knowledge as never before. Hope AI assists you in your endeavour to study the bible and tenets of the Catholic faith. AI will become more powerful as days go by and it will become part of our daily life. Now there is no reason for us to complain that there is no one to teach us the bible. Paul writes, “The Word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart” (Romans 10:8-9). AI goes one step further to say, “Understanding the Word is at your fingertips.” God is opening doors to learning His Word. Do not miss this opportunity.

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