Closing message from Cardinal Jean-Claude Hollerich<\/b><\/p>\n
Centesimus Annus Pro-Pontifice Foundation \u2013 Rome, May 16, 2025<\/b><\/p>\n
Ladies and gentlemen,<\/span><\/p>\n As this international conference in May 2025 draws to a close, I would like to express my deep gratitude for the quality of the discussions you have had. Unfortunately, I was unable to be with you during these three days, but the evocative titles of your various presentations attest to the depth of your reflections. Guided by the light of Catholic social teaching, you have addressed the major issues of our time\u2014including the impact of new technologies, of which artificial intelligence (AI) is one of the most powerful manifestations, with all the challenges that this entails. Pope Leo XIV, in a speech delivered on May 12, 2025, before more than 3,000 journalists and media professionals in the Paul VI Hall, rightly and forcefully reminded us: <\/span>\u201cArtificial intelligence requires a certain responsibility if it is to truly serve all of humanity.\u201d <\/span><\/i>And he added: <\/span>\u201cArtificial intelligence is one of the challenges of the century.\u201d <\/span><\/i>These words must resonate within us as a call to vigilance and action. AI undoubtedly holds immense potential: useful automation, medical advances, support for education, and better interconnection between peoples. However, it also carries profound risks that threaten the very balance of our global society. A recent report by the International Monetary Forum warns us that <\/span>45% of companies plan to reduce their workforce in favor of artificial intelligence and automation. <\/b>The reporttherefore highlights the risks of growing wage inequality, particularly for the middle classes, and the possibility that <\/span>the wages of highly skilled workers will increase more than proportionally<\/b> to the productivity gains brought about by AI. If left unregulated, this dynamic could dramatically widen the gap between rich and poor. The digital divide could become an irreversible social divide, making the most vulnerable even more invisible. Furthermore, in 2024, the International Labor Organization highlighted the precarious and sometimes inhumane conditions of workers responsible for training artificial intelligence. These are often women and men in the Global South, poorly paid, without protection or recognition. Are we witnessing the emergence of a new digital neocolonialism, more subtle but more insidious than past forms of colonization? Is this exploitation without borders, masked by innovation? Another danger is that of a <\/span>technological plutocracy<\/b>, where power is no longer in the hands of the people’s representatives, but of a few large companies controlling algorithms, data, and thought processes. We are seeing the emergence of a <\/span>new technical elite<\/b>, a digital aristocracy that is beyond democratic control. This imbalance poses a direct threat to democracy itself. When collective decisions are influenced by opaque systems that manipulate opinion on a large scale, what remains of political freedom? In the face of this, the Church must affirm with force: <\/span>the dignity of the human person is above all technology.<\/b> As Pope Francis has already said: <\/span>\u201cIt is not enough for artificial intelligence to be technologically advanced; it must be oriented toward the integral good of the human person and respect for creation.\u201d <\/span><\/i>Technology, if left to itself, does not build the good. It needs a conscience. It needs a framework. It needs us. Ultimately, I urge us not to leave these issues in the hands of a few. The governance of artificial intelligence must be guided by sound ethical principles. Catholic social teaching, with its vision of justice, subsidiarity, and the common good, is a sure reference point in this uncertain world. May this conference be a decisive moment in building, together, a human and united intelligence that is equal to the challenges of our time.<\/span><\/p>\n +Jean-Claude Cardinal Hollerich<\/span><\/p>\n Archbishop of Luxembourg<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Closing message from Cardinal Jean-Claude Hollerich Centesimus Annus Pro-Pontifice Foundation \u2013 Rome, May 16, 2025 Ladies and gentlemen, As this international conference in May 2025 draws to a close, I would like to express my deep gratitude for the quality of the discussions you have had. Unfortunately, I was unable to be with you during these three days, but the evocative titles of your various presentations attest to the depth of your reflections. Guided by the light of Catholic social teaching, you have addressed the major issues of our time\u2014including the impact of new technologies, of which artificial intelligence (AI)…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[7],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.centesimusannus.va\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23796"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.centesimusannus.va\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.centesimusannus.va\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.centesimusannus.va\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.centesimusannus.va\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=23796"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.centesimusannus.va\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23796\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":23856,"href":"https:\/\/www.centesimusannus.va\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23796\/revisions\/23856"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.centesimusannus.va\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=23796"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.centesimusannus.va\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=23796"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.centesimusannus.va\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=23796"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}