Archbishop Paul Coakley, president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, said Pope Leoʼs first encyclical, Magnifica Humanitas, calls for keeping the dignity of the human person, created in God’s image, at the center of any discernment about emerging technologies.
Archbishop Coakley spoke at a virtual panel June 2 held by Georgetown Universityʼs Initiative on Catholic Social Thought and Public Life.
The dialogue explored what the encyclical is asking, how technological changes can enhance humanity’s relationship with God, and also what aspects of human creation technologies can never replace.
The group also addressed the Church’s important role in the matter and why it must use its voice to speak about the emerging technologies.
Kim Daniels, director of the Initiative on Catholic Social Thought and Public Life, moderated the conversation with numerous panelists including Irish Bishop Paul Tighe, secretary of the Vatican’s Dicastery for Culture and Education and a leading Vatican expert on AI.
The discussion also welcomed Meghan Sullivan, founding director of Notre Dame’s Institute for Ethics and the Common Good; Emilce Cuda, Argentinian theologian and secretary of the Pontifical Commission for Latin America at the Holy See; and Daniel Daly, founding executive director of the Center for Theology and
