VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- Jesus seeks out people in their woundedness and isolation to offer healing and hope, even when they feel furthest from God, Pope Francis said in a prepared catechesis.

"Jesus awaits us and lets himself be found precisely when we think there is no longer hope for us," the pope wrote in the text prepared for his general audience March 26.

Although Pope Francis returned to his residence at the Vatican March 23 after more than five weeks in the hospital, his general audience and other appointments were suspended to allow time for his recovery.

Jubilee pilgrims, even knowing Pope Francis was not holding an audience, continued to make their way to the Vatican and to the Holy Door at St. Peter's Basilica.

As part of his catechetical series for the Holy Year 2025, themed "Jesus Christ, our hope," the pope reflected on Jesus' encounter with the Samaritan woman at the well as recounted in St. John's Gospel. The catechesis follows a previous reflection on the nighttime meeting between Jesus and Nicodemus.

Unlike Nicodemus, who went looking for Jesus, the Samaritan woman encountered him unexpectedly. She went to the well at an unusual hour -- noon, when it was very hot -- perhaps to avoid others. "She did not expect to find a man at the well at noon; in fact, she hoped to find no one at all," the text said. Yet Jesus chose to pass through Samaria and stop at that very place and time, waiting for her.

"Jesus here thirsts above all for the salvation of that woman," the catechesis said, explaining that Jesus' request -- "Give me a drink" -- reveals a divine desire to begin a relationship and offer the "living water" of grace.

Quoting St. Augustine, the pope wrote, "The one who asked for a drink was thirsting for the faith of the woman."

Jesus' knowledge of her difficult past of having had five husbands and now living with a sixth man is not a source of judgment, the pope's message said, but a starting point for healing. The woman is invited to read her story in a new light.

The number six, the catechesis noted, often symbolizes imperfection in the Bible. Jesus could be "an allusion to the seventh bridegroom, the one who will finally be able to satiate this woman's desire to be truly loved," it said. "And that bridegroom can only be Jesus."

Upon realizing who he is, the woman leaves behind her water jar -- a symbol, the pope wrote, of her past burdens -- and runs to tell others.

"Her past is no longer a weight," the catechesis said. "She is reconciled. And so it is for us: To proclaim the Gospel, we must first lay the weight of our own story at the feet of the Lord, surrendering to him the weight of our past."

True evangelization flows from the experience of being understood, welcomed and forgiven, the pope wrote. 

"Even if our stories seem heavy, complicated, perhaps even ruined, we always have the chance to surrender them to God and begin our journey again," the catechesis said. "God is mercy and always awaits us."

WASHINGTON – On the release of the pastoral framework, “Life is always a good” from the Vatican’s Dicastery for Laity, Family and Life, Bishop Daniel E. Thomas, chairman of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ Committee on Pro-Life Activities welcomed the framework that proposes a methodology for pastoral planning and synodal discernment. 

Bishop Thomas stated that the framework affirmed the U.S. bishops’ nationwide and parish-based initiative, Walking with Moms in Need, which is marking its fifth anniversary: 

“We welcome today’s release of a pastoral framework entitled, ‘Life is always a good’ from the Vatican’s Dicastery for Laity, Family and Life. On this thirtieth anniversary of St. John Paul II’s landmark pro-life encyclical, Evangelium Vitae (the Gospel of Life), the framework, addressed to Family and Life Offices of the Bishops’ Conferences and Dioceses throughout the world, proposes a methodology for pastoral planning and synodal discernment. The framework lays out themes including: ‘Beginning of Life;’ ‘Throughout the Course of Life;’ ‘End of Life;’ ‘Cross-cutting Themes;’ and ‘Research.’ These themes cover a wide range of life issues such as abortion, sexuality, violence against women, IVF, suicide, poverty, human trafficking, contraception, war, deportation, addictions, abortion healing, end-of-life care, persons with disabilities, as well as many others.

“The comments from Pope Francis, five years ago on the twenty-fifth anniversary of the Gospel of Life, now invite readers to engage the pastoral framework: ‘Dear Brothers and Sisters, every human life, unique and unrepeatable, has value in and of itself; it is of inestimable value. This must always be proclaimed anew with the courage of the Word and the courage of actions. It calls us to solidarity and fraternal love for the great human family and for each of its members.’ (General Audience of 25 March 2020, 25th Anniversary of Evangelium Vitae)

“This framework affirms our own ‘Walking with Moms in Need’ nationwide and parish-based initiative which also celebrates its fifth anniversary today. Inspired by the Gospel of Life, the Walking with Moms in Need process follows the same approach as proposed in the framework: listening to needs at the local level; surveying available resources and gaps; discerning an appropriate response; launching a pastoral response; and evaluating and adapting that response to best accompany those in need. As noted in the framework, all of this involves the formation and engagement of the laity, with the encouragement of their pastors.

“This pastoral framework emphasizes that ‘we cannot separate faith from the defence of dignity and human life… Dignity exists and can never be lost because the individual exists; it extends to the entire person, regardless of his abilities, in any conditions and situations they may be, from conception to natural death. Today, this truth must be explained, narrated, and proclaimed.’ (Life is always a good)”

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ROME (CNS) -- For Pope Francis' medical team at Rome's Gemelli hospital, Feb. 28 was the worst day.

"For the first time I saw tears in the eyes of some of the people around him," Dr. Sergio Alfieri, the coordinator of his medical team, told the Italian newspaper Corriere della Sera.

"We were all aware that the situation had deteriorated further and there was a risk that he might not make it," Alfieri said in the interview published March 25, two days after the pope was released from the hospital and returned to the Vatican.

The Vatican medical bulletin from Feb. 28 said: "The Holy Father, this afternoon, after a morning spent alternating between respiratory physiotherapy and prayer in the chapel, experienced an isolated episode of bronchospasm. This caused an episode of vomiting, which led to him inhaling some and a sudden worsening of his respiratory condition."

The doctors aspirated his airways and put him on noninvasive mechanical ventilation, a machine that delivers air with added oxygen through a tightly fitted face mask and using positive pressure to assist breathing.

Alfieri and Vatican officials have said several times that Pope Francis was never intubated and that he always remained "alert and aware."

The doctor told Corriere, "We had to make a choice between stopping and letting him go or pressing on and trying all the drugs and therapies we could, running the very high risk of damaging other organs. And in the end, we took that path."

Asked who made the final decision, Alfieri said, "The Holy Father always decides." 

But he added that Pope Francis had "delegated all kinds of health care decisions to Massimiliano Strappetti, his personal health care assistant who knows perfectly well the pontiff's wishes."

Strappetti, a nurse who worked in intensive care at the Gemelli, joined the Vatican health service in 2002 and has become Pope Francis' primary health care provider, working in consultation with the pope's physicians.

Strappetti advised, "Try everything, don't give up," Alfieri said. "That's what we all thought too. And nobody gave up."

Corriere also asked Alfieri if Pope Francis was aware of the danger he was in.

"Yes," he responded, "because he was always alert. Even when his condition worsened, he was fully conscious. That night was terrible; he knew, as we did, that he might not make it through the night. We saw the man in pain. However, from the first day he asked us to tell him the truth and wanted us to be honest about his condition."

After 38 days in the hospital, Pope Francis returned to the Vatican, but Alfieri and the other members of his medical team have said he will need two months to recuperate.

Cardinal Pietro Parolin, Vatican secretary of state, spoke to reporters March 24 outside a meeting near the Vatican. He said he had not visited the pope yet because he wanted to allow him to rest.

The Secretariat of State and all Vatican offices keep working as normal, he said.

"I think that for the moment only the most important issues will be submitted to the pope, issues that require a decision on his part also so as not to tire him too much," Cardinal Parolin said. "Then as he recovers, we will return to the normal rhythm." 

Greeting people gathered outside the Gemelli hospital before leaving March 23, Pope Francis was obviously weak, and his voice was barely audible.

While his doctors have urged him to avoid meetings with large groups, Cardinal Parolin said he hoped the pope would be able to at least briefly greet Britain's King Charles III, who was scheduled to make a state visit to the Vatican April 8.

The pope's first days back home had a rhythm of rest, work, prayer and therapy, both respiratory and physical therapy, the Vatican press office said. A nurse was present 24 hours a day, and the pope was alternating between using high-flow oxygen, oxygen mixed with ambient air and not using the nasal cannula at all.

Pope Francis concelebrated Mass March 25, the feast of the Annunciation, in the small chapel near his room on the second floor of the residence, the press office added. It did not say who the other concelebrants were.
 

WASHINGTON - “The further devastation of Gaza will have dire implications for any future civil society development in the region and will likely exacerbate existing tensions for another generation,” said Bishop A. Elias Zaidan, chairman of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ Committee on International Justice and Peace, addressing the breakdown of the ceasefire agreement in the Holy Land. 

Bishop Zaidan stated:   

“I am deeply saddened that the ceasefire in Gaza, which had been implemented in January and carried with it the hope that this deadly conflict would end, has broken down, and that violence has resumed with horrible consequences. I am also deeply saddened that there are still Israeli hostages in the hands of Hamas; I call on the United States and all parties involved in the negotiations, to work for the immediate release of all these victims of the deadly October 7, 2023 attacks, and to restore the ceasefire to prevent further loss of life. The further devastation of Gaza will have dire implications for any future civil society development in the region and will likely exacerbate existing tensions for another generation. 

As our Holy Father Pope Francis recently wrote from Gemelli Hospital, ‘While war only devastates communities and the environment, without offering solutions to conflicts, diplomacy and international organizations are in need of new vitality…’ I urge the United States, the European Union, and regional partners, as well as aid organizations, to assist actively in forging the local bonds of human solidarity that will lay the foundation for a lasting peace in the region.   

I take this opportunity, even in the midst of this disappointing development, to reiterate our longstanding support for Israel and Palestine to live side by side as regional partners, working jointly for the development and prosperity of all peoples living in the lands of our Lord’s life, death, and glorious resurrection. During this Lenten season, as we strive for an ever-deeper conversion, I invite all people of faith to pray for peace in the Holy Land.”   

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VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- The Dicastery for Laity, the Family and Life has published a pastoral framework to help dioceses begin a synodal process for strengthening and promoting the pastoral care of human life.

The aim is to help all Catholics defend, safeguard and promote all human life worldwide and in different cultural contexts at a time that is "marked by extremely serious violations of human dignity," the dicastery said in a statement March 24, the eve of the 30th anniversary of St. John Paul II's encyclical, "Evangelium Vitae" ("The Gospel of Life"). 

Titled, "Life is always a good. Initiating Processes for a Pastoral Care of Human Life," the 40-page framework seeks to reaffirm St. John Paul's words as repeatedly emphasized by Pope Francis and to "draw the attention of all people of goodwill who wish to be at the service of communities to effectively defend and promote every human person's life," Cardinal Kevin J. Farrell, dicastery prefect, wrote in its preface.

Many countries are afflicted by wars and all sorts of violence, "especially against women, children before and after birth, adolescents, people with disabilities, the elderly, the poor and migrants," he wrote.

"We must forge a genuine pastoral care of human life to put into practice what is also reiterated in the recent declaration, 'Dignitas Infinita' ('Infinite Dignity'), of the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith," he added.

The principle that every person's life should always be respected, safeguarded and defended, which is evident in church teaching and recognizable even by reason, must be "implemented in every country, village and household" with special emphasis on helping young people understand and welcome the value of life, the cardinal wrote.

However, he wrote, the framework does not provide local churches "with preset and ready-to-use 'recipes.' Instead, it offers ways to initiate 'processes'" that involve the entire body of the Catholic Church, reflective of the synodal process begun in 2021.

Through dialogue, listening, prayer and discernment, all the faithful with the guidance of the Holy Spirit can work "to create the conditions to welcome and accompany life anywhere and anytime," Cardinal Farrell wrote.

According to the framework, the foundation of the pro-life mission is to move from a "logic of performing activities to achieve objectives" to a "logic of co-responsibility and transformative discipleship." That is, where pastoral plans are no longer developed alone since they are not effective. 

The church must build and tap into its "ecclesial intelligence," where all members -- active and aware of the reality on the ground -- come together as disciples, not to have "a project," but to respond to a call, like the Good Samaritan coming to the aid of a person in need, it said.

"In many countries, attention to life issues is kept high by pro-life movements, but many of them mainly focus on civil and political action," the framework said.

"Pastoral care is an ecclesial action of the Christian community, laypeople and pastors together, which cannot be delegated and is called to address every situation in which human dignity is threatened, without confining itself to specific areas," it said.

There is also a need to "look beyond beginning and end-of-life issues, which still remain a priority," and include other serious violations of human life, it said. 

"We need situational intelligence, empathy, intuition, and practical wisdom" to implement pastoral action, the framework said. "This is why the proposed planning model is formative and transformative not only in terms of results but also in terms of the people who plan." 

Bishop Dario Gervasi, adjunct secretary of the dicastery, said in a press release that the framework came out of an ongoing dialogue with the world's bishops.

"The primary recipients of this pastoral framework are the bishops who, during their frequent 'ad limina' visits to the Holy See, have always emphasized the urgency of a renewed commitment to safeguard and promote the life and dignity of every human being," he said.

It is a way to support every diocese's journey "so that they can invest the necessary resources for a more effective formation of the laity and raise awareness among younger generations about the value of human life," Bishop Gervasi said.

The framework is available on the dicastery's website at laityfamilylife.va in English, Portuguese and Italian, and Spanish and French versions will be available "soon," the press release said.

Cardinal Farrell encouraged "every bishop, priest, religious man and woman and layperson to read this pastoral framework and strive to develop an organic and structured pastoral care of human life, which can provide workers, educators, teachers, parents, young people and children the right formation to respect the value of life."

ROME (CNS) -- Immediately before leaving Rome's Gemelli hospital after more than five weeks of treatment for breathing difficulties, double pneumonia and infections, Pope Francis greeted hundreds of people who gathered outside the hospital March 23.

With a very weak voice, Pope Francis thanked the crowd, waving his hands and giving a thumbs up.

He also pointed to a woman carrying a yellow-wrapped bouquet of flowers and told the crowd, "She's good." 

An aide had pushed Pope Francis in his wheelchair onto the balcony overlooking the square outside the hospital. Some 600 people had gathered at the hospital, including Rome's Mayor Roberto Gualtieri. Hundreds of people also gathered in front of video screens in St. Peter's Square to see the pope for the first time since he was hospitalized Feb. 14.

The pope left the hospital almost immediately after his appearance on the balcony.

The motorcycle police leading the pope's motorcade turned onto the street leading to the Vatican entrance closest to his residence and then turned around. Rather than go directly home, Pope Francis was driven through the center of Rome to the Basilica of St. Mary Major where he has prayed before and after every foreign trip and after his two previous hospitalizations for abdominal surgery.

Pope Francis did not go into the church but left a bouquet of flowers to be placed on the altar under the Marian icon "Salus Populi Romani" or "Health of the Roman People."

Television footage of the pope, seated in the front seat of a white Fiat, showed he was using oxygen through a nasal tube.

Just before the 88-year-old pope had come out on the hospital balcony, the Vatican released a text he had prepared for the midday Angelus prayer. 

The pope's message focused on the day's Gospel reading of the parable of the fig tree from Luke 13:1-9, in which a gardener asks a landowner to allow him to spare a fig tree that had not borne fruit for three years; the gardener asks to be given a year to fertilize and care for the tree in the hope that it would bear fruit in the future.

"The patient gardener is the Lord, who thoughtfully works the soil of our lives and waits confidently for our return to him," the pope wrote.

"In this long period of hospitalization, I have experienced the Lord's patience, which I also see reflected in the tireless solicitude of the doctors and health care workers, as well as in the in the attention and hopes of the family members of the sick," who also are in the Gemelli, he wrote.

"This trusting patience, anchored in God's love that does not fail, is indeed necessary in our lives, especially in facing when the most difficult and painful situations," Pope Francis wrote.

But, like the other messages he released from the hospital on Sundays, the pope also urged prayers for peace and commented on current events. 

"I was saddened by the resumption of heavy Israeli shelling on the Gaza Strip, with so many dead and wounded," he said. Israel, citing an impasse in negotiations with Hamas militias, began launching aerial attacks on Gaza March 18, ending a ceasefire that had begun in January.

"I call for an immediate silencing of the weapons; and the courage to resume dialogue, for all hostages to be released and for a final ceasefire to be reached," the pope wrote. The humanitarian situation in Gaza "is once again very serious and requires urgent commitment from the conflicting parties and the international community."

Dr. Sergio Alfieri, head of the medical team treating the pope, had told reporters March 22 that in his rooms at the Domus Sanctae Marthae, the pope will continue using oxygen as needed through a nasal tube, will be taking medication to fight a lingering mycosis, a fungal infection, and will be continuing his physical therapy and respiratory therapy. 

The doctors have prescribed two months of rest and recuperation and have urged the pope not to meet with large groups during that time. They also said his voice will require time to recover.

Dr. Luigi Carbone, the assistant director of the Vatican health service and a member of the medical team treating the pope at Gemelli hospital, said that other than an oxygen tank, no special equipment would be needed in the pope's room. He added, though, that the Vatican health service has a doctor and other personnel on duty 24 hours a day.

Even after the pope's return to the Vatican was announced, the rosary for him and for all the sick was continuing in St. Peter's Square each evening.

The crowd gathered to pray March 22 loudly applauded when Archbishop Giordano Piccinotti, president of the Administration of the Patrimony of the Holy See, began the recitation telling them, "The Holy Father is returning home. We give thanks to God and to the Virgin Mary for this great news."

The Vatican press office said that March 23 the rosary would continue and would be led by Cardinal Mauro Gambetti, archpriest of St. Peter's Basilica.
 

Pope Francis leaves hospital

Pope Francis returned to his residence in the Vatican March 23 after spending 38 days in Rome's Gemelli hospital for treatment of double pneumonia.

VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- Pope Francis will return to his residence in the Vatican March 23 after spending 38 days in Rome's Gemelli hospital for treatment of double pneumonia, his doctors announced.

The pope was to be discharged "in a stable clinical condition, with a prescription to partially continue drug therapy and of a convalescence and rest period of at least two months," said Dr. Sergio Alfieri, who is leading the medical team treating the pope, during a news conference at the hospital March 22.

He said that the double pneumonia, which the pope was diagnosed with shortly after being hospitalized Feb. 14, "is completely healed," although he may still have other lingering bacterial and viral infections.

"Immediately, he will not be able to again take up work activities with meeting groups of people or important obligations that he will probably be able to carry out once he has finished the prescribed convalescence and expected clinical improvements are recorded," Alfieri said.

"During his hospitalization, the clinical conditions of the Holy Father presented two very critical episodes in which the Holy Father's life was in danger," he said. "Pharmacological therapy, the administration of high-flow oxygen and the assisted mechanical ventilation recorded a slow but progressive improvement, bringing the Holy Father out of the most critical episodes."

The pope was never intubated during his hospitalization and always remained alert and vigilant, Alfieri added, also stating that the pope is not diabetic and did not have COVID-19.

And as is common for elderly people with pneumonia, he said, the pope's voice lost strength during his hospital stay.

"It will take time for the voice to return to what it was before," Alfieri explained. "Already compared to 10 days ago, we have recorded, let's say, important improvements."

An audio message from the pope thanking the faithful for their prayers was played in St. Peter's Square March 6, in which he had obvious difficulty speaking.

In terms of preparing Pope Francis' return to the Domus Sanctae Marthae, his Vatican residence, "the Holy Father does not need very many things," said Dr. Luigi Carbone, the pope's personal physician.

"He needs oxygen, like all patients that are discharged with pneumonia, which we hope he can shortly remove in daily use," he said.

Earlier in the day, the Vatican press office announced that Pope Francis intended to look out from the window of the Gemelli hospital March 23 to greet the faithful and offer a blessing after the recitation of the Angelus. It would mark the first time the pope has been physically seen by the public since his hospitalization some five weeks ago.

Regarding the possibility of the pope's participation in Easter celebrations at the Vatican, Matteo Bruni, director of the Vatican press office, said that "based on the improvements during this convalescence period, the appropriate decisions will be made."

Likewise, other appointments on the pope's calendar, including a meeting with King Charles and Queen Camilla of Great Britain April 8 and a trip to Turkey in May, would depend on improvements to the pope's condition.

Carbone said the pope was "very happy" to learn that he was being discharged; "by now it was three or four days that he was asking us when he would go back home."

VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- Pope Francis continues to show small signs of improvement and spends his days following through on all his therapies, doing some light work and praying, according to the Vatican press office.

"His medical condition remains stable with some small improvements" regarding his mobility and breathing capacity, it said in an evening briefing.

The pope is following a daily regime made up of pharmacological, respiratory and physical therapies, which are yielding positive results, the press office said March 21. He has not needed nighttime mechanical ventilation through a mask after it was suspended the night of March 17-18, it said March 21. Instead, he has been receiving high-flow oxygen through a nasal tube overnight.

The press office also noted as a positive sign that the 88-year-old pope is maintaining a reduced need for the "high-flow oxygen therapy" through a nasal tube during the day.

Cardinal Víctor Manuel Fernández, prefect of the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith, told reporters a "new stage" of the pontificate has begun.

"He is the man of surprises, right?" he told reporters during a book presentation in Rome March 21.  

Since the pope was hospitalized Feb. 14 for respiratory difficulty and infections, "Surely he will have learned many things this past month and who knows what will come forth?" he said.

Even knowing that this has been difficult and very burdensome for him, he said, "I know that it will be fruitful for the church and for the world."

Asked whether the pope would be out of the hospital in time for Easter April 20, the cardinal said, "he could be back, but the doctors want to be 100% sure and they prefer to wait a bit longer."

It's a well-known fact that the pope "wants to give it his all," Cardinal Fernández said, and that "the little time he has left he wants to use, not nursing himself."

The cardinal has not been among the very few people who have been able to visit the pope, but he said the pope is now doing "very well" physically, "almost as he was before his illness."

However, as is often the case with patients who have had to be on additional oxygen, they have to "learn how to talk again," that is, regain the strength of their voice.

The pope's doctors, citing his "gradual" improvement, stopped providing daily medical bulletins March 6, the same evening the Vatican released a very brief audio message from Pope Francis thanking people for their prayers.

The last medical bulletin from the pope's doctors was March 19, and the one before that was published March 15, although the Vatican press office continued to provide news each day about the pope's progress and activities in the hospital.

However, because the pope's condition was consistently improving, the press office did not issue a statement March 20 and did not plan to provide any over the weekend -- March 22 and 23. The next medical bulletin was not expected before March 24.

Father Armando Nugnes, rector of the Pontifical Urbanian University in Rome, led the evening recitation of the rosary for the pope's health, a recitation that began Feb. 24.

WASHINGTON - In response to the Executive Order signed today by President Trump, “Improving Education Outcomes by Empowering Parents, States, and Communities,” the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) offered the following statement from its spokesperson, Chieko Noguchi, executive director of public affairs:

“While the USCCB does not take a position on the institutional structure of government agencies, the Catholic Church teaches that parents are the primary educators of their children and should have the freedom and resources to choose an educational setting best suited for their child. The Conference supports public policies that affirm this, and we support the positive working relationships that the dioceses, parishes, and independent schools have with their local public school system partners. As this Executive Order is implemented, it is important to ensure that students of all backgrounds in both public and non-public schools, especially those with disabilities or from low-income backgrounds, will continue to receive the resources they need.”

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VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- The Catholic Church needs to expand its safeguarding efforts to include the new threats and opportunities posed by artificial intelligence, top organizers of a Vatican conference said.

"We are really currently in a war" on two fronts when it comes to protecting children from abuse and mistreatment, Joachim von Braun, president of the Pontifical Academy for Sciences, said at a Vatican news conference March 20.

There is the traditional battleground that most safeguarding guidelines and policies address: protecting minors from "one-on-one" exploitation by a perpetrator in their environment at home, school, church, society and online, he said. But the new frontier is where AI and gender-based violence have come together in very sophisticated ways and "at scale" that is, where the crime and its victims are easily and rapidly multiplied, he said.

The church has a role to play, he and other speakers at the conference said. 

The Catholic Church must work with science-based knowledge about AI and "deeply engage in the regulatory debate, otherwise, we cannot win these two wars at two frontiers," von Braun said.

The president of the papal academy and others were presenting a conference organized by the academy with the Institute of Anthropology: Interdisciplinary Studies on Human Dignity and Care in Rome and the World Childhood Foundation, founded by Queen Silvia of Sweden to help prevent child sexual abuse and exploitation.

The conference, scheduled for March 20-22 at the Vatican, was to look at the risks and opportunities of AI for children and to come up with a common commitment for safeguarding.

Some of the risks include AI being used to: generate and distribute child sexual abuse material; groom children online; facilitate human trafficking; and infringe on a child's right to privacy and dignity with excessive monitoring, according to the conference program.  

However, AI can also be used to promote the safety and dignity of children as well as expand their access and opportunities in health care and education, the speakers said.

But to do that, they added, there must be greater awareness about AI, clear and consistent regulation by governments and ethical guidelines in AI development.

"Scientists play a key role," said von Braun, a German agricultural scientist specializing in food security. Scientists at corporations or in academia "are writing the algorithms out of which the risks and opportunities result."

Calling on mathematicians and applied computer scientists to follow ethical rules is new, he said. "For centuries, mathematics was considered free of ethical concerns. That's no longer the case." 

Cardinal Peter Turkson, chancellor of the papal academy, said church members are already working with AI practitioners and scientists "from Silicon Valley" who come to Rome for the so-called "Minerva dialogues."

These "conversations" focus on the impact of AI so that when experts go back to work, "they will be able to also influence their colleagues in the development of these models" to be more ethical, he said. However, what AI does cannot be left only in the hands of industry, and governments must address the use of AI, too.

Jesuit Father Hans Zollner, director of the Institute of Anthropology, said there has long been a "lack of consistency in policy making and in the engagement of tech companies that make enormous mountains of money but don't invest in the safety of young people as much as they could and should."

"The church has an important part to play in this," he said, "even with all the history of abuse that has been going on in the church."

"We also have our moral and ethical responsibility to raise our voice and to point out where governments and tech companies fail" to come up with consistent and meaningful rules or guidelines, the Jesuit priest said.

Von Braun said that because advancements in AI are moving at lightning speed, each national bishops' conference should have "an AI council of scientists and practitioners from their respective country so that they have evidence-based advice in this extremely dynamic field."

These councils could function like the pontifical academies, which invite experts to provide their findings and recommendations to the pope, he said. The church should "build such an architecture in order to not only track but to influence the AI risks" and become open to opportunities. 

Father Zollner said the Catholic Church "has a unique convening power" that can bring "together the key players that need to sit around one table because this artificial intelligence and child dignity in the digital world are way beyond the capacities and the competencies of one player alone."

Britta Holmberg, deputy secretary general of the World Childhood Foundation, said prevention starts with speaking clearly about how common child abuse is. "One in five girls and one in seven boys globally are affected by child sexual abuse. They are among us."

"We also know that technology is part of the problem, but it needs also to be part of the solution," for example, by utilizing new technologies to reach out to those who are most at risk, she said. 

Partnering with the tech companies "is really crucial," she said, "because we know that the people who want to abuse or misuse technology, they will always find a way."

Those who "develop tech understand the problems, understand how it can be misused," she said, so they can help those who are trying to "introduce safeguards early on."

Because the church is influential and its leaders are role models, she said, Catholics must "speak up" and increase awareness about AI's risks and possibilities. "Just choosing to not do something because it's scary" will have consequences.

Queen Silvia, 81, "serves as an example for all of us that you are not too old, we're not too little tech savvy to care about AI" and seek ways it can help protect children, Holmberg said.