Pope Leo: Human Dignity in the Digital Age (Part Two)

Artificial intelligence and the digital systems on which it is based represent a total environment — the world, plain and simple — in which machines produce culture rather than human beings. The humanistic challenge lies in shaping a way of inhabiting this (digital) world, begetting culture through practices of love that enable each individual to […]

Pope Leo: Human Dignity in the Digital Age (Part One)

Pope Leo XIV’s first encyclical offers theological and humanistic insights into the potential and risks of artificial intelligence for human dignity. It is also a declaration of the “dream of a new modernity,” in which the Catholic Church, nations, peoples, and international institutions collaborate to create ways of inhabiting the world that are worthy of […]

Religious Freedom in Estonia: Muscovite Poison

The Estonian Supreme Court rejected the petition filed by President Alar Karis challenging the constitutionality of the Churches Act. In its June 8 ruling, the Court acknowledged the petition’s merit but stated that, when interpreted strictly, the law is not unconstitutional (by a vote of 11 to 6). The bill was approved by Parliament on […]

Trump, Bishops, and Sacred Heart

Donald Trump launched his campaign to “re-Americanize” America with two moves that immediately put him on a collision course with even the Catholic bishops most aligned with his policies. These moves were a crackdown on undocumented immigrants and a restrictive interpretation and of ius soli regarding the right to U.S. citizenship. In his second term […]

Penultimate Reality

Catholicism and the concrete pursuit of peace how and where to draw the line — is a concrete thorn in the Church, evidence of the real effort. For years, Catholic theology—and perhaps the Church itself—has faced an unresolvable dilemma when it comes to peace. The more decisive and radical the stance against war, the less […]

Peter Thiel & Co.’s Need for Theology: A Missed Opportunity?

Have Catholics missed an opportunity to engage Thiel on theology?  There is no need to be dismissive and snob. His effort means we should be open to talk to him. Peter Thiel faced heavy criticism from Italian theological circles aligned with the pontificates of Pope Leo XIV and his predecessor, Francis, during his lectures in […]

Humanity of Ordinary People

The New Encyclical arrives in a void. There is no opposition to the Church, nor does anyone care about the common people. The Pope chose to speak for individual men and women, cast aside in a world of machines and superheroes. A century ago, the task of Rerum Novarum was extremely difficult — almost impossible […]