The white smoke had barely stopped billowing from the roof of the Sistine Chapel on May 8 when posts began to blitz the internet. One “meme” video showed Pope Leo XIV in papal finery. His Holiness declared that “woke” meant waking up to others’ suffering and that Christians should speak out in the face of injustice.
These beautiful sentiments and lovely words certainly sounded like things the new pope would say. Trouble is, he didn’t say or write any of it. But such is the speed of the internet that the meme was reposted more than a million times before it was established as fake by the official Vatican News website.
Providentially, the technologically savvy Cardinal Robert Prevost came prepared for his new role. Pope Leo XIV has announced that he will approach the challenge of artificial intelligence, or AI as it is commonly called, not by ignoring or condemning it, but by first understanding it. His strategy is to learn how to use it for evangelization — spreading the Good News of Jesus around the world.
Our new pope’s namesake, Pope Leo XIII, critiqued both communism and unbridled capitalism following the Industrial Revolution. His 1891 encyclical, Rerum Novarum, set the stage for what is now referred to as Catholic social teaching. It defined, upheld and defended the dignity and worth of people over property and workers’ right to form unions and to receive a living wage in a safe environment.
Now — following what we could call a Communications Revolution — Pope Leo XIV is setting out to address both the dangers and opportunities of the internet. As Pope Francis called for a missionary Church, Pope Leo XIV — himself a missioner in Peru — calls on Catholics and all Christians to proclaim the Good News in every facet of our lives, including via computer.
One of the first saints to be canonized by Pope Leo will be Carlo Acutis. The first millennial saint, Carlo died of cancer in 2006 at the age of 15. Like many teenagers, Carlo loved playing video games, for which he has been described as the first “gamer saint.” But in his short life, he undertook the mission of an evangelizer in our internet era.
Blessed Carlo Acutis created a website to document the more than 130 Eucharistic miracles from around the world that the Vatican has approved for veneration, thus fostering devotion to the Eucharistic presence of Jesus. The website has flourished, and a traveling exhibit based on his work invites all to a renewed devotion to the Blessed Sacrament.
As we use computers to spread the Good News, we fulfill Jesus’ words that his coming would be “as lightning flashes and lights up the sky from one side to the other” (Luke 17:24). Just as the image of white smoke and the news Habemus papam flashed around the world in seconds, every electronic message today goes out instantly to everyone everywhere.
Over the centuries, all revolutionary inventions, such as movable type, electricity, the telescope, radio, telephone, television and now the computer, have been misused or exploited for less than honorable purposes. However, that is the fault of the users, not the means of communication.
Artificial intelligence can play a positive role. It is extremely useful for directions or definitions, translating into foreign languages and referencing information. But there is always the possibility of falsehoods.
We must approach internet content by being “shrewd as serpents and simple as doves” (Matthew 10:16). A healthy skepticism is essential. When it comes to Catholicism, we should seek reputable online sources. For information about the pope, the Vatican News website should be our first go-to site for verification.
As an early meme deception touted wryly, “Don’t believe everything you read online.” — Abraham Lincoln
Featured image: A man holds an image of Blessed Carlo Acutis, who used the internet to evangelize, at St. Patrick’s Cathedral in New York City. (OSV News/Gregory A. Shemitz/U.S.)
