(OSV News) — They are a trio of challenges and opportunities already stalking the pontificate of Pope Leo XIV: The persistence of poverty, the changing nature of work and the future uses of artificial intelligence.
As the pontiff approaches the six-month anniversary of his May 8 election, the secular and faithful world are debating how the church he leads might positively change the trajectory of each.
On Oct. 30, the Initiative on Catholic Social Thought and Public Life at Georgetown University gathered a panel of experts to examine “Pope Leo XIV’s New Challenge and Moral Leadership on Poverty, Work, and Artificial Intelligence.”
Facing major changes
“Pope Leo XIV’s pontificate began during what Pope Francis often called a ‘change of epoch,’ with major changes transforming our world,” Kim Daniels, director of the Initiative, reminded listeners in her introduction.
“Among them, the rise of AI and the effects it would have on work and the economy — something Pope Leo has called ‘another industrial revolution,’” she added.
Yet, as Pope Leo has cautioned, not everyone — especially those at the peripheries — is included in the discussion of these new things, with their attendant promise and risks.
John Carr, panel moderator and founder of the Initiative, proposed the United States is living in divided times, with a government shutdown, the loss of food and health care for the poor, a practical end to overseas aid, and a deadlocked Congress.
At the same time, “a new elite is moving forward with new technology, new wealth, and new power — some of it related to artificial intelligence with its possibilities and dangers for work, the economy, and our society.”
“But,” suggested Carr, “there is another voice; there is another vision.”
Catholic social teaching
Carr asked each panelist in turn how both the Catholic Church and Pope Leo are offering the solutions of Catholic social teaching in response to emerging challenges to the defense of human dignity, justice and labor.
“I think the Holy Father has already indicated how the church should respond in what he has already done,” said Cardinal Blase J. Cupich of Chicago and a close adviser to both Pope Francis and Pope Leo.
“Namely, to make sure that the inspiration of (Pope Leo XIII’s 1891 encyclical) ‘Rerum Novarum,’ which is about the defense of human dignity of the worker, but also human dignity at large, should all begin with the preferential option for the poor,” the cardinal continued.
Referring to Pope Leo’s first apostolic exhortation “Dilexi Te” (“I Have Loved You”), released Oct. 4, Cardinal Cupich said Pope Leo “makes it very clear, in fact — that it’s not just a teaching among others that we are to accept, but it’s the heart of who we are. And he says something very profound: ‘Don’t claim to be a holy person, if you do not have care for the poor.’ Your holiness is, in fact, through the means by which you care for the poor.”
Pope Leo also indicates “the poor are not just objects of our generosity, ” added Cardinal Cupich, “they are subjects, they are agents, and they have something to offer us.”
“What I think the church needs to do continually is to raise the voice of poor people, to speak to the world, about how, in fact, they live their lives in abject poverty sometimes — and yet have so many good virtues about them that can enhance who we are. … We can learn from the poor,” concluded Cardinal Cupich, “and the church needs to lift up their voice, and make sure that it’s heard.”
The church and labor concerns
Liz Shuler, president of the AFL-CIO, noted the church and labor have been aligned in their concerns not just for decades, but centuries.
The AFL-CIO, she said, represents “nearly 15 million workers in this country; 63 unions across every sector of the economy. The idea and the value behind the labor movement and the church are so deeply intertwined — this notion of dignity for all; solidarity and community of those around you; work as more than just a way to make a living. It is about fulfillment; it is about meaning; and it’s about purpose.”
“I think Pope Leo has taken that on as inspiration,” Shuler continued. “This notion of those values marching along together has been since the 1880s, as we know: Leo XIII supporting unions publicly; the 1930s, U.S. priests supporting the CIO, which was before the AFL and the CIO came together, advocating for fair wages during the Depression; in the 1970s, clergy arrested in solidarity with César Chávez,” she reflected.
“So today, this partnership is more important than ever — with the total transformation of the economy and AI; income inequality greater than it’s ever been; and attacks on immigrants and vulnerable workers — clearly,” Shuler added, “this is absolutely the center of both of our movements, and we really appreciate the direction that the pope has taken.”
Using AI for good
Paul Almeida, dean and chair of Georgetown University’s McDonough School of Business, said he belongs to a technology discussion group on the West Coast, which counts leading AI firms among its members.
“It was really overwhelming to listen to people talk about technology as having its own soul, and its own direction, and its own value. There was talk about doppelgangers and AI agents that could slice through bureaucracy. And I realized,” Almeida continued, “we don’t just need guardrails. We need to change the conversation.”
The church, he suggested, should be the one to do so.
“We are the church,” Almeida emphasized. “And I think each of us, in whatever jobs we have, have to figure out how we can unleash AI not just to restrict evil — which we should — but to unleash it; unleash the power for good, for enhancing human dignity, for reaching out to the margins, for serving the common good. I think that’s our duty.”
Panelist Cecilia Flores, executive director of the Catholic Volunteer Network, had just returned from Rome and the World Meeting of Popular Movements at the Vatican. And she had a correction to issue.
“When we talk about Catholic social teaching … a lot of people say it’s the best kept secret of the Catholic Church. And I think that’s categorically untrue,” she said. “I think it is systematically not taught in formation programs, because it makes people very uncomfortable.”
Speaking out on church teaching
Church members need to dispel that notion of it being a secret, she said, and be ready to speak out.
“We have to be comfortable with sharing what our Catholic social teaching actually says, and what it actually tells us about how we need to interact as human beings. It’s the social teaching for a reason,” Flores stressed, “and we’re not able to interact with one another, because we’re not really good at what Catholic social teaching says.”
“Dilexi Te,” said Flores, “feels like a reminder to the church of who we are. It’s not teaching anything new, and (Pope Leo) reiterates that multiple times. This is who we are; this is the heart of who we are: is to care for one another as a society. And yet,” she concluded, “we have lost our way.”
Discussion of the conclave
Carr also asked Cardinal Cupich what the cardinal electors at the conclave — of whom he was one — had been looking for in a new pope.
The answer was, a mix of abilities, all of which Pope Leo has: He’s a pastor; a missionary; a skilled administrator. He’s lived on different continents and speaks several languages.
“It’s almost like he came out of central casting,” reflected Cardinal Cupich. “He stepped onto that balcony — and he owned the moment, and has never looked back.”
Kimberley Heatherington is an OSV News correspondent. She writes from Virginia.
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