THE Pope has urged Christians of all denominations to reaffirm the “intrinsic dignity of every human person”, in the midst of advances in science and technology.
“The way men and women understand the fundamental experiences of their existence, such as creating, being born, and dying, is structurally changing,” Pope Francis said in a message to an Inter-Christian Symposium of Roman Catholic and Orthodox theologians at Trani, in southern Italy, last week. The symposium was co-organised by Rome’s Pontifical Antonianum University and the Orthodox Theological Faculty of Thessaloniki’s Aristotle University.
“It is not possible to react with only denial and criticism in the face of this ongoing anthropological revolution. Instead, deep reflection is needed to renew thought and the choices to be made.”
In a brief message, the Pope said that the world was facing an “anthropological mutation”, hastened by artificial intelligence (AI) and “incredible scientific developments”, which had people “to rethink their identity, role in the world and society, and vocation to transcendence”. He spoke of the importance of “practical collaboration” between Christian Churches.
“The specific nature of human beings in creation, their uniqueness compared to other animals, even their relationship with machines, are constantly being questioned”, the Pope said.
“In light of the teaching of sacred scripture and Christian tradition, it is necessary to reiterate that every human being is endowed with dignity by simply existing . . . regardless of whether or not they act in accordance with this dignity, the socio-economic situations in which they live, or their existential conditions. Defending this dignity against concrete threats such as poverty, war, exploitation and more is a common task for all Churches to work on together.”
The Symposium was the 17th involving RC and Orthodox representatives, and parallels a long-running Joint International Commission for Theological Dialogue, which has brought together representatives of the Holy See and 14 Orthodox Churches at 15 meetings since 1980.
The Pope’s call to uphold human dignity develops a theme set out in his 2020 encyclical on fraternity and social friendship, Fratelli Tutti (News, 9 October 2020), as well as in an April declaration by the Vatican’s Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith, Dignitas Infinita (Leader comment, 12 April), which also reaffirmed a Christian “commitment to the weak and those less endowed with power”.
At a G7 summit in June, the Pope called for urgent “political action” to regulate AI (News, 21 June). He warned that its use as “an extremely powerful tool” could endanger “understanding of the value and dignity of the human person”.
In a message for the World Day of Prayer for the Care of Creation, on Sunday, the Orthodox Ecumenical Patriarch, Bartholomew, also recalled the “sacredness of the human person”, and said that “genuine religious faith” could help to dissolve “the arrogance and titanism of humankind”.