Mission in the age of Artificial Intelligence

Mission, the fundamental and foundational dimension of Christian life, could not be left out of the encyclical “on the safeguarding of the human person in the time of artificial intelligence”, although it is dealt with only in passing.

Power at the service of mission

At the conclusion of the second chapter dedicated to the “Foundations and principles of the Social doctrine of the Church”, the American Pope reflects on the Church’s social teaching as a test and examen for the ecclesial community itself.

“In conclusion, I would like to touch on a point that is particularly close to my heart. Social Doctrine is not merely a message addressed to society; it is also an examination of conscience for the Church — a home and school of communion that is always called to ensure that the principles outlined in this chapter are applied, especially within its own structures” (MH 86), he writes.

The Church that teaches is also the Church that practices, which seeks to be a laboratory for its own teachings on communion.

The Pope speaks of subsidiarity as “the guiding principle for governance and pastoral life. It involves recognizing and supporting the faithful and intermediary ecclesial organizations as they carry out their responsibilities, valuing charisms and skills and avoiding any form of paternalism that suffocates evangelical freedom” (MH 87). He also states that “solidarity finds its source in the mystery of Christ and is nourished by the Eucharist” (MH 88).

Subsidiarity and solidarity, together with common good, the universal destination of goods and social justice, form the five pillars of the Church’s social doctrine (MH 46).

On the practice of justice within the ecclesial context, Leo XIV writes: “Living out justice in the Church means purifying ecclesial relationships and structures from distortions that give rise to inequality, lack of transparency and abuse of power” (MH 89). He adds that “listening to the victims of spiritual, economic, institutional, sexual and power-based abuse, as well as abuses of conscience, is an integral part of a journey toward justice, which includes acknowledging the harm done, just reparation and taking steps to prevent it from happening again” (MH 89).

He then goes on: “Every power is at the service of communion and mission. All authority is at the service of the People of God” (MH 89).

These two sentences brought me back to what Pope Francis, of blessed memory, wrote in Evangelii gaudium (EG — The Joy of the Gospel), the programmatic document that launched his pontificate.

“I dream of a ‘missionary option’, that is, a missionary impulse capable of transforming everything, so that the Church’s customs, ways of doing things, times and schedules, language and structures can be suitably channeled for the evangelization of today’s world rather than for her self-preservation” (EG 27), wrote the Argentine Pope.

In Pope Leo’s thinking, mission also defines the manner in which the Church exercises power as a service of communion and mission for the people of God.

On the other hand, the Church, which lives in a permanent state of mission, must be a Church constantly engaged in discernment for a more fruitful mission.

“Regular assessments of the exercise of ministerial responsibilities should be encouraged, not as judgments on individuals, but as tools for learning and correction oriented toward mission” (MH 89), advocates Leo XIV.

Mission in the service of the poorest

In the tradition of his predecessors, Leo XIV recalls that the “preferential option for the poor” — as St John Paul II wrote (MH 78) — is the Church’s obligatory path, a criterion for discernment in the language of the Gospel (MH 14), a source of evangelisation for the Church itself (MH 42), and that the sharing of goods is the path to mission.

“This ministry of service is expressed not only through our faith celebrated and lived in the Sacraments, and in the adoption of a synodal style, but also in the concrete sharing of goods. Following the example of the early Church, ecclesial resources need to be shared so that no one among us may be in need (cf. Acts 4:34), and so that their administration may support the mission of proclaiming the Gospel to the poorest” (MH 89).

This is a point I wish to emphasize this point: the sharing of ecclesial resources — which are so numerous and varied — involves their communisation so that, like the first Christian community, they may be pooled in order that all may have what is necessary to live and they may support the evangelisation of the poorest — which also involves their human development through education, healthcare and women’s empowerment.

Digital world: a new continent to be evangelised

In the conclusion of the encyclical, and reflecting on education as a necessary investment to face the challenges of artificial intelligence, Pope Leo writes: “We all need to learn how to engage with the digital world in a human way, as an integral part of our education in the faith and in a life lived according to the Gospel. Indeed, we must consider the digital world as a new continent to be evangelized, one that requires generous missionaries who are mature in the faith” (MH 238).

I note that the concluding document of the first session of the Synod on synodality spoke of digital missionaries, a concept that disappeared from its final document. And in this paragraph it would make perfect sense to revive this missionary figure of the 21^st century.

There is an entire generation living in the digital space who has the right to know Jesus Christ in this new human space that we insist on calling virtual reality but which, in fact, is the new reality for millions of human beings. The Pope affirms this by saying that the digital world is an integral part of the life lived according to the Gospel and that it constitutes the brave new world to be evangelised by proven missionaries.

The digital mission must go beyond TikTok videos and pretty, pious posts about Jesus and the Christian faith. There is an urgent need to enable digital natives to live liturgia, koinonia, diakonia and martyria (liturgy, fellowship, service and witness) — the four fundamental elements of the Christian experience — right where they live, in the vast and complex digital world. Church 3.1 — the digital Church — is a fundamental dimension of its mission today and a right of digital natives.

Father José da Silva Vieira, MCCJ