- Courtney Mares, Vatican City, OSV News
In a question-and-answer session with clergy from the Diocese of Rome, the Pope said priests should resist “the temptation to prepare homilies with artificial intelligence” (IA), or to search for “likes” on social networking platforms such as TikTok.
“Like all the muscles of the body, if we don't use them, if we don't move them, they die. The brain needs to be used, so our intelligence must also be exercised a little so as not to lose this capacity,” Pope Leo said at the closed-door meeting, according to a Feb. 20 Vatican News report.
“To give a true homily is to share the faith,” and artificial intelligence “will never be able to share the faith,” the Pope added. The Pontiff has expressed interest in the topic of artificial intelligence and the dignity of work since the early days of his pontificate.
“Yes, we can offer an inculturated service in the place, in the parish where we work,” the Pope told the priests of the Diocese of Rome; “people want to see your faith, your experience of having known and loved Jesus Christ.”.
Not to look for ‘likes’
In his meeting with the clergy of Rome, Pope Leo stressed that with a “life authentically rooted in the Lord” one can offer something different, calling it “illusion on the Internet, on TikTok”, to think that one offers oneself and thus gains ‘likes’ and ‘followers’.
“You are not yourselves: if we do not transmit the message of Jesus Christ perhaps we are mistaken and we must reflect with great attention and humility on who we are and what we do,” the Pope stressed.
He also added that for a priest “a life of prayer” is fundamental, adding that this means “time spent with the Lord,” not “the routine of reciting the breviary as fast as possible.”.
Pope Leo's advice to young priests
The Pope's February 19 closed-door dialogue with the clergy of the Diocese of Rome was introduced by Cardinal Baldo Reina, Vicar General of Rome, who introduced four priests, representing four age groups, who were selected to ask the Pope a question.
Among them was a young priest, ordained by Pope Leo XIII last May. He asked how young priests can support their peers in today's world.
The Pope urged them first of all to keep “their eyes open” to the families from which many young people come, who have often gone through “very serious crises”, with absent parents or “divorced and remarried”.
Many young people have also experienced abandonment, so priests must know their reality, the Pope continued. “Be close to them in this regard, accompany them, but do not be just young people,” he said, adding that, in this regard, the witness of the priest is important, since he offers a model of life.
Seeking outreach initiatives
The Pope also asked priests not to be content only with the young people who continue to come to the parish: “We must organize ourselves, think, look for initiatives that can be a form of rapprochement”.
“We have to go ourselves, we have to invite other young people, go out on the street with them; maybe offer different outlets,” activities such as sports, art and culture, he insisted.
Knowing others is the key element, according to Pope Leo, and knowledge comes through “a human experience of friendship” with young people who “live in isolation, in incredible loneliness.”.
Growing loneliness
The Pope also highlighted how this loneliness has increased especially after the pandemic, in part due to the use of smartphones. “They live a kind of aloofness, a coldness, without knowing the richness, the value of truly human relationships,” he explained.
For this reason, he continued, we must know how to offer young people “another type of experience of friendship, of sharing and gradually of communion”, and from this experience “invite them to know Jesus”.
Pope Leo stressed that this requires “time” and “sacrifice,” considering also that many young people today are trapped in “a terrible life” of drugs, crime and violence.
Priestly fraternity in Chicago
Pope Leo encouraged priests to cultivate true friendships among themselves and to resist the temptation of “invidia clericalis” or clerical envy.
Let us not be afraid to knock on the door of others, to take the initiative, to say to colleagues or a group of friends: why don't we get together from time to time to study together, to reflect together, to have a moment of prayer and then a good lunch? The parish priest with the best cook can invite others, Pope Leo said.
He recalled a «beautiful» example of priestly fraternity in Chicago, his hometown, where a group of priests decided to meet once a month since they were in the seminary. Some continued into their 90s, meeting for prayer and study.
Witnessing life in the midst of euthanasia
During the question and answer session, Pope Leo also addressed the issue of euthanasia, stressing that priests “must be the first to bear witness that life has enormous value.”.
“If we ourselves are so negative about our life, and sometimes with less suffering than many people endure, how can we say to them, “No, you cannot take your life, you must accept it?” the Pope wondered.
“If one lives one's whole life as a journey that carries us forward, even with the weight of years, often also - being young or old - with illnesses and difficulties, one will have the ability, with God's grace, to accept the cross, the suffering that comes,” he said.
Bringing communion to the sick
The Pope also urged priests to bring Communion and the anointing of the sick to parishioners who are ill.
“Today, with fewer priests and more elderly, the thinking is, ‘Well, let's send the laity, they'll do it,’” he said. “It's a beautiful service the laity provide ... but that doesn't mean the priest can stay at home looking at things on the Internet.”.
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Courtney Mares is Vatican editor for OSV News. Follow her at @catholicourtney. Salvatore Cernuzio of ‘Vatican News’ contributed to this story.
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