The newest papal encyclical and the oldest Christian theologians turn out to be reading from the same page. Something is striking about watching the Catholic Church respond to artificial intelligence. While many respond with either uncritical enthusiasm for new technology or anxious warnings about its pitfalls, Pope Leo XIV’s encyclical Magnifica Humanitas (”On the Safeguarding... Continue Reading →
The Machine and the Soul: What Two Catholic Thinkers Can Teach Us About Pope Leo XIV’s Message on AI
A reflection on Magnifica Humanitas through the eyes of Mortimer Adler and Thomas Merton On 25 May 2026, Pope Leo XIV released Magnifica Humanitas — a papal encyclical addressing artificial intelligence and what it means to be human. It takes a clear moral stand: human beings possess a dignity no machine can replicate, and no algorithm can... Continue Reading →
The contemplative foundation of Catholic Social Teaching
I posted this on the ITMS Facebook page today, but wanted to share it with you. Since Pope Leo XIV’s encyclical came out, there has been more discussion about the meaning of Catholic Social Teaching (CST), you know, the best-kept secret in the church, especially in the US. Thomas Merton helps Christians understand that social... Continue Reading →
Is God Inside Everything? How Thomas Aquinas Out-PanENtheists the Panentheists
A See–Judge–Act reflection on divine presence, classical metaphysics, and what it means for how we live A note on the method: The See–Judge–Act approach, rooted in Catholic social thought and associated with Cardinal Joseph Cardijn, invites us first to observe reality honestly, then to evaluate it through the lens of scripture, reason, and faith, and... Continue Reading →
Strange, Delightful, and Slightly Unnerving: Why Both Ezra Klein and Pope Leo XIV Warn That AI Challenges Human Values
Two thoughtful voices from different worlds—a liberal New York Times podcaster and a newly elected pope—arrive at a strikingly similar warning: artificial intelligence poses a profound challenge to human values. Their paths to this conclusion differ, but both detect an unsettling risk at the heart of AI’s rise. The Podcaster Who Can’t Figure Out His... Continue Reading →
What Basil, Augustine, and Chrysostom Still Have to Say About the World We’re Living In
A See–Judge–Act Study Module for Ordinary Christians There is a moment in Joseph Cardijn’s life that never ceases to strike me. He was a young Belgian priest at the turn of the twentieth century, watching working-class teenagers — barely more than children, really — swallowed whole by factories, stripped of dignity, left without community or... Continue Reading →
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