Pope Leo XIV
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Can the church compete?
We do not live the faith alone — but fewer young people are choosing to live it at all. With church attendance competing with sport, children’s parties, and endless leisure alternatives, parishes need to actively reimagine how they engage young people, or there maybe no one left!
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The theology of chairs
There is a particular irony in celebrating free elections and participatory governance from behind a lectern while your audience sits in silent rows. The Vatican’s meeting with lay leaders exposed a contradiction at the heart of the Church’s synodal project.
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Open letter to Pope Leo
Mandatory celibacy, introduced nearly 1,000 years ago, has outlived its purpose. Bishop Bonny of Antwerp plans to ordain proven married men — viri probati — from 2028, reflecting what many laity and clergy quietly believe: declining vocations, abuse scandals, and overstretched priests have eroded whatever once justified the rule. The Spirit is speaking.
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Pope Leo started a conversation that Silicon Valley cannot ignore
Journalism and Innovation Professor Jeff Jarvis is clear: Pope Leo does not declare war on AI or technology. Those expecting papal condemnation will be disappointed. This encyclical is something rarer — a thoughtful framework for the long conversation ahead, intended not for this moment but for generations.
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Social teaching is binding doctrine
Catholic social teaching is a series of doctrinal claims that bind the Catholic faithful as much as doctrinal claims about eternal life because one is connected to the other. Our salvation is not unconnected to how we live.
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Inside the Vatican-Anthropic alliance on AI ethics
Anthropic’s outreach to Catholic voices began with an email introducing an atheist tech founder to a moral theologian. What followed were months of deepening conversations about how centuries of religious wisdom might help shape the behavior of an artificial intelligence model.
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Questions about AI are really religious questions
Every new technology carries an implicit vision of what it means to be human. That makes the deepest questions about AI fundamentally religious ones – even if much of the developed world would prefer the Church stayed silent on matters of profit and progress.
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Trump’s attacks elevate Pope Leo
Donald Trump’s repeated derogatory remarks about Pope Leo have paradoxically transformed the pontiff from a figure of mild curiosity into a confirmed world leader. His steady appeals to the just war tradition now command mainstream media attention rather than being buried in back pages.
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False news and discord demand urgent response
Global frustration with misinformation and the collapse of respectful conversation demand more than secular remedies. The World Day of Communications challenges the Church to model the unity it preaches by first healing its own internal Babel.
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Synodality won’t trickle down
Expecting clerics; hierarchical leaders alone to drive Synodality may be unrealistic. Parish communities in Australia already demonstrated their readiness for a synodal church during Plenary Council preparations. The path forward may require complementary action from the bottom up.
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