Fifty years ago, Cardinal Karol Wojtyla of Poland (later Pope St. John Paul II) gave an address during the 1976 Eucharistic Congress in Philadelphia on the occasion of the bicentennial celebration of the signing of the Declaration of Independence. He said something that many people might consider prophetic in light of the troubles and divisions that have been present in our Church, in our country and in our world.

Are you being duped? The evil one, Satan, is working insidiously to try to deceive us. (See Revelation 12:9) One way it’s being done is by convincing us that moral standards do not apply in particular situations, and consequently, we become ready to justify immoral and inhumane behavior for a supposed socially worthy purpose. This is a psychological concept called “moral disengagement.”

The month of June is traditionally dedicated to the Sacred Heart of Jesus. Last Thursday, June 11, the U.S. Bishops consecrated our country to Jesus' Sacred Heart. Timothy O’Malley, theology at the University of Notre Dame and associate director for research at its McGrath Institute for Church Life explains the consecration this way. “In the midst of a really perilous political situation operative right now, in the midst of war and violence and the terrors of AI, the Church thinks about existing in a particular country, existing in the United States. Her members now should really dedicate themselves anew to the merciful love of Christ.”

On Monday, May 25, Pope Leo promulgated his first encyclical entitled, Magnifica Humanitas, Latin for magnificent humanity, where he addresses the need to safeguard human dignity and the common good in an era of artificial intelligence, and offers recommendations for its development and use toward that goal.

In presenting the encyclical, Pope Leo indicated that it had been born out of a process of listening — to experts developing AI, political leaders, parents, teachers, and people concerned about autonomous weapons and mass data gathering.