Pope Francis gives his annual Christmas address to the cardinals who work in Vatican offices on Dec. 21, 2023, in the gilded Hall of Benediction at the Vatican. / Credit: Vatican Media Rome Newsroom, Dec 21, 2023 / 11:13 am (CNA). Pope Francis warned the Roman Curia on Thursday that “rigid ideological positions” can be an obstacle to “moving forward.”In his annual Christmas address to the cardinals who work in Vatican offices on Dec. 21, the pope underlined that it is important to “keep faring forward, to keep searching and growing in our understanding of the truth, overcoming the temptation to stand still.”“Let us remain vigilant against rigid ideological positions that often, under the guise of good intentions, separate us from reality and prevent us from moving forward,” Pope Francis said.Pope Francis gives his annual Christmas address to the cardinals who work in Vatican offices on Dec. 21, 2023, in the gilded Hall of Benediction at the Vatican. Credit: Vatican MediaThe pope’s speech came days after he gave his approval for priests to give “spontaneous” nonliturgical blessings for same-sex couples and other couples in “irregular situations” — a declaration that has been met with strong reactions, dividing Catholic bishops around the world.Pope Francis’ speech briefly touched on what he sees as the current division in the Catholic Church, rejecting the usual dichotomy of so-called “progressives” and “conservatives.”“Sixty years after the Second Vatican Council, we are still debating the division between ‘progressives’ and ‘conservatives,’ but that is not the difference,” Francis said.Pope Francis gives his annual Christmas address to the cardinals who work in Vatican offices on Dec. 21, 2023, in the gilded Hall of Benediction at the Vatican. Credit: Vatican Media“The real, central difference is between lovers and those who have lost that initial passion. That is the difference. Only those who love can fare forward.”The pope, who turned 87 on Sunday, added that a zealous priest once told him that “it is not easy to rekindle the embers under the ashes of the Church,” noting that this advice “can also help us in our work in the Curia.”Pope Francis has often used his annual December address, held in the Vatican’s gilded Hall of Benediction, to offer his frank perspective on the state of the Roman Curia. Pope Francis meets with the cardinals who work in Vatican offices on Dec. 21, 2023, in the gilded Hall of Benediction at the Vatican. Credit: Vatican MediaIn 2014, he famously diagnosed 15 spiritual “diseases” afflicting the Curia, including careerism and idolizing superiors. In 2020, the pope used the word “crisis” 44 times in his speech and called the Church to renewal.In his 2023 Christmas greetings, Pope Francis did not speak of corruption or even allude to the historic Vatican trial that concluded on Saturday, which found a cardinal guilty of embezzlement of Vatican funds and sentenced him and other former Vatican employees to years in prison. Pope Francis’ message instead focused on the importance of listening, discernment, and moving forward.Discernment “can strip us of the illusion of omniscience, from

null / Credit: lunamarina/Shutterstock Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Dec 20, 2023 / 18:10 pm (CNA). Catholic bishops around the world are deeply divided on a Vatican declaration that permits nonliturgical blessings of homosexual couples: some bishops are welcoming the news, some are approaching it with caution, while others are outright refusing to implement it.In some countries, including Austria, Germany, and France, many Church leaders have warmly embraced the new guidelines on blessings. The heads of the bishops’ conferences in both Germany and Austria have suggested that priests cannot refuse to perform blessings for homosexual couples. Church leaders in other countries, namely the United States, the Philippines, Ukraine, Ghana, and Kenya, have mostly accepted the declaration but are also urging caution in its implementation. This, they say, is to avoid any confusion that would lead people to incorrectly believe the Church permits homosexual activity.Alternatively, Church leaders in at least three countries are refusing to implement the declaration entirely: Kazakhstan, Malawi, and Zambia. Two Kazakh bishops have been more critical than others, going as far as admonishing Pope Francis for approving the declaration.The declaration, titled Fiducia Supplicans, allows “spontaneous” pastoral blessings for “same-sex couples” and other couples in “irregular situations.” It does not allow liturgical blessings for homosexual couples and states the pastoral blessings “should never be imparted in concurrence with the ceremonies of a civil union and not even in connection with them” and cannot “be performed with any clothing, gestures, or words that are proper to a wedding.”Bishops embrace blessing of homosexual couplesSome of the most enthusiastic support for the Vatican declaration came from high-ranking Church officials in Austria, Germany, and France. Archbishop Franz Lackner, who heads the Austrian Bishops’ Conference, expressed “joy” over the Vatican declaration, according to an interview with Österreichischer Rundfunk, an Austrian public media company.The archbishop said a relationship between a man and a woman is “ideal,” but “a relationship between two of the same sex is not entirely without truth: love, loyalty, and even hardship are shared with one another.”Lackner said it is difficult to speak of a “must” in terms of religious life but that “basically, [a priest] can no longer say no” to blessing a homosexual couple.Austria’s neighbors to the north in Germany are similarly embracing the declaration. Bishop Georg Bätzing, who heads the German Bishops’ Conference, said he is “grateful for the pastoral perspective [the declaration] takes,” which he claims “points to the pastoral importance of a blessing that cannot be refused upon personal request.”The bishop explained that blessings for homosexual couples are different from a marriage. He said that “a simple blessing need not and cannot require the same moral conditions that are required for receiving the sacraments.”In France, Archbishop Hervé Giraud of the Archdiocese of Sens and Auxerre told the French Catholic news outlet La Croix that the declaration provides “another idea of blessing, a blessing of growth and not a blessing of pure recognition” and suggested that he may bless homosexual couples himself. “I myself could give a blessing to a same-sex couple, because I believe it’s based on a beautiful idea of

St. Peter's Basilica. / Credit: vvo/Shutterstock Rome Newsroom, Dec 18, 2023 / 15:22 pm (CNA). The Vatican has issued new guidance on the topic of blessings of same-sex attracted people, stating that Catholic priests can bless same-sex couples as an expression of pastoral closeness without condoning their sexual relations. The ruling, which also applies to Catholics civilly remarried without having received an annulment as well as to couples in other “irregular situations,” underscored that such blessings cannot be offered in a way that would cause any confusion about the nature of marriage, which the document affirms is the only “context that sexual relations find their natural, proper, and fully human meaning.” “The Church’s doctrine on this point remains firm,” the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith (DDF) said in its Dec. 18 declaration.The declaration emphasizes that blessings may only be given “spontaneously” and not in the context of a formal liturgical rite.The guidance is the latest — and most authoritative — intervention by the Vatican on an issue that has embroiled the universal Church in recent years.In September 2022, the bishops of the Flemish-speaking part of Belgium published a blessing ceremony for same-sex couples in their dioceses. The move appeared to be in stark contrast to the DDF’s February 2021 affirmation that the Church did not have the power to impart blessings on unions of persons of the same sex.This past March, the controversial German Synodal Way approved a resolution to establish a formal liturgical blessing of same-sex unions as well as divorced and remarried Catholics. In August, the archbishop of Berlin said that he would not discipline priests who provided such blessings and published a roster of clergy willing to offer them.A group of cardinals wrote to the pope in July requesting clarification on the Church’s stance on same-sex blessings, among other issues. Today’s DDF guidance builds upon many of the themes Pope Francis laid out in his response to the cardinals, which was published by the Vatican in October.In its new declaration, the DDF asserted that its guidance would preclude subsequent attempts to formalize such blessings.“What has been said in this declaration regarding the blessings of same-sex couples is sufficient to guide the prudent and fatherly discernment of ordained ministers in this regard,” the DDF said. “Thus, beyond the guidance provided above, no further response should be expected about possible ways to regulate details or practicalities regarding blessings of this type.”But the ruling — the latest in a flurry of documents published by the DDF since Cardinal Victor Manuel Fernández, Pope Francis’ longtime theological adviser, took over as prefect in September — is likely to generate further controversy on the issue, with both proponents and critics seeing it as a possible opening to additional changes down the road.A ‘real development’Titled “Supplicating Trust,” the DDF’s 5,000-word document is classified as a “declaration” because, as the text states, it “implies a real development from what has been said about blessings in the magisterium and the official texts of the Church.”The basis for

A member of the crowd in St. Peter's Square holds up a baby Jesus figure for a blessing by Pope Francis at his Sunday Angelus Dec. 17, 2023. / Credit: Vatican Media Rome Newsroom, Dec 17, 2023 / 12:00 pm (CNA). Pope Francis reflected on St. John the Baptist as a luminous figure who testifies to the light and teaches us that “only in God do we find the light of life” during his Angelus address Dec. 17 on the third Sunday of Advent, or Gaudete Sunday.Observing this as the first lesson that we can learn from John the Baptist, the Holy Father told pilgrims gathered in St. Peter’s Square at the Vatican that the second is that “through service, consistency, humility, witness of life” we “can be a lamp that shines and helps others find the way on which to meet Jesus.”Today’s message built upon the Holy Father’s Angelus message from the previous Sunday, where he highlighted John’s ministry as a voice that “is linked to the genuineness of his experience and the clarity of his heart.”Pope Francis waves to pilgrims in St. Peter's Square on Dec. 17, 2023. Credit: Vatican MediaExpanding on this observation, the pontiff noted that John’s mission is characterized by his “frank language” and is underscored by his “sincere behavior, his austerity of life.” Thus it is through his example that the Holy Father suggested we look to John the Baptist as a figure who “motivate[s] us to rise above mediocrity and to be in turn models of good living for others.”Expanding upon this point, the pope noted that we can see John as a “luminous” figure not only because he is “upright, free, and courageous” but because he submitted himself to God’s will, to carry out a mission to pronounce the light that is “Jesus, the Lamb of God” who “redeems, frees, heals, and enlightens.”To that end, the luminosity of John is not self-aggrandizing, but instead he is at the service of others, a voice “who accompanies his brothers and sisters to the Word; he serves without seeking honors or the spotlight.” In this way the pope encouraged the faithful to look at John as a counterpoint to “other famous and powerful people” who “invested a lot in appearances.”Drawing a connection between the biblical context and today, the pope noted that “in every age the Lord sends men and women like this,” but he asked the faithful: “Do we know how to recognize them? Do we try to learn from their witness, allowing ourselves to be challenged? Or rather, do we allow ourselves to be bedazzled by fashionable people?”Pilgrims gather in St. Peter's Square for Pope Francis' Angelus message on Dec. 17, 2023. Credit: Vatican MediaFollowing the recitation of the Angelus prayer, the Holy Father noted that on Saturday, Dec. 16, Argentine Cardinal Eduardo Francisco Pironio was beatified. The pope described Pironio as a “humble and zealous pastor, witness of hope, defender of the poor” who “collaborated with St. John Paul II in the

Pope Francis celebrates his birthday on Dec. 17, 2023, with children and families who are assisted by the Vatican’s Santa Marta Pediatric Dispensary. / Credit: Vatican Media Rome Newsroom, Dec 17, 2023 / 13:50 pm (CNA). Pope Francis celebrated his 87th birthday on Sunday morning ahead of his weekly Angelus by meeting with children and families who are assisted by the Vatican’s Santa Marta Pediatric Dispensary.Addressing the families present — who presented the Holy Father with a cake and a bouquet of sunflowers and sang “Happy Birthday” — the pope used the opportunity to speak on the importance of preparing for Christmas. “We think and remember when Jesus came; he came to be with us,” the pope said to the nearly 200 families gathered in the Paul VI Audience Hall at the Vatican.Pope Francis celebrates his birthday on Dec. 17, 2023, with children and families who are assisted by the Vatican’s Santa Marta Pediatric Dispensary. Credit: Vatican MediaReminding the children that this is a season to “prepare our hearts for Christmas, to receive Jesus,” the pope challenged the children: “What will I ask Jesus? What will I ask Jesus this Christmas? Now each of you think: What will I ask Jesus? In silence, eyes closed, and you think: What will I ask Jesus? Have you thought about it yet? All right.”“And I wish you a merry Christmas, a merry Christmas to all of you! Always with a smile, and may the Lord give you everything you want,” he added.Pope Francis celebrates his birthday Dec. 17, 2023, with children and families who are assisted by the Vatican’s Santa Marta Pediatric Dispensary. Credit: Vatican MediaIt has been the custom of the Argentine pontiff since becoming pope in 2013 to eschew more formal celebrations on his birthday and instead spend time with Rome’s poor and underprivileged.In 2016, for his 80th birthday, Pope Francis had breakfast with homeless people from around the Vatican at his residence of Casa Santa Marta. In 2017 he held a pizza party for sick children in the Paul VI Audience Hall. On the occasion of his 86th birthday last year, the pope presented an award to three individuals for their charitable work.Pope Francis receives a hug on his birthday Dec. 17, 2023. The pope in the morning met with children and families who are assisted by the Vatican’s Santa Marta Pediatric Dispensary. Credit: Vatican NewsThe Santa Marta Pediatric Dispensary, which provides medical aid to poor families and mothers, was established in 1922 by Pope Pius XI and is run by the Daughters of Charity of St. Vincent de Paul. It is staffed by volunteers of the Bambino Gesù Hospital, the Vatican’s Association of Sts. Peter and Paul, and an array of lay volunteers from other Roman hospitals.Originally tasked with providing milk to the poor children around Rome, over the years the association’s mission grew to provide medical visits to children and their mothers and distribute a wide array of medical and alimentary goods.

Pope Francis waves to pilgrims during his Angelus address on Dec. 17, 2023. / Credit: Vatican Media Rome Newsroom, Dec 17, 2023 / 11:20 am (CNA). In the latest sign of escalating strain between the Holy See and Israel over the mounting civilian death toll in the Israel-Hamas war, Pope Francis after his Angelus address on Sunday sharply condemned the reported killing of two women outside a Catholic church in Gaza City, allegedly by an Israeli sniper.“Someone says, ‘It’s terrorism, it’s war.’ Yes, it’s war, it’s terrorism. This is why Scripture states that ‘God stops wars ... breaks bows and breaks spears,’” the pope said.In a statement Saturday, the Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem, which oversees the Catholic Church in the Holy Land, claimed that a sniper of the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) “murdered two Christian women inside the Holy Family Parish in Gaza, where the majority of Christian families has taken refuge since the start of the war.” The statement said there was no warning issued by the IDF ahead of the attack, alleging that the victims “were shot in cold blood inside the premises of the parish, where there are no belligerents.” “Nahida and her daughter Samar were shot and killed as they walked to the sisters’ convent,” the statement said, using the victims’ first names. “One was killed as she tried to carry the other to safety.” The post said another seven people were “shot and wounded” while trying to “protect others inside the church compound.”Vatican News, the Holy See’s official news outlet, reported the Latin Patriarchate’s account on Saturday. The news report said the reported attack was “justified by Israelis” who “claimed the presence of a rocket launcher in the parish” but did not provide the source for that information. Vatican News also reported that “dozens are reported dead” following a heavy bombardment of the area around Holy Family Parish, citing the Palestinian government news agency Wafa.As of Sunday morning Israel has not issued a statement on the alleged shootings at the parish. CNA contacted the IDF seeking comment but did not receive a response prior to publication.‘Painful news from Gaza’Speaking to pilgrims gathered in St. Peter’s Square on Dec. 17, Pope Francis expressed his deep concern over the reported attack. He also added new details beyond what was included in the Latin Patriarchate’s statement, including the victims’ full names and that the victims were targeted while “going to the bathroom.” He also referred to multiple “sharpshooters.”“I continue to receive very serious and painful news from Gaza. Unarmed civilians are subjected to bombings and shootings. And this even happened inside the parish complex of the Holy Family, where there are no terrorists, but families, children, sick and disabled people, nuns,” the pope lamented.“A mother and her daughter, Mrs. Nahida Khalil Anton and daughter Samar Kamal Anton, were killed and other people injured by sharpshooters, while going to the bathroom,” the pope continued.In its statement Saturday, the Latin Patriarchate said that it is “at a loss to comprehend how

Pope Francis at his general audience on Nov. 22, 2023. / Credit: Daniel Ibanez/CNA Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Dec 17, 2023 / 06:00 am (CNA). Pope Francis celebrates his 87th birthday on Sunday, Dec. 17, the third Sunday of Advent, as he continues to reign as the oldest pope in the past century and one of the oldest popes in the Church’s history.As the 266th successor of St. Peter to the papacy, Francis will be the oldest bishop of Rome since Pope Leo XIII, the oldest pope in history, who served until his death in 1903 at the age of 93. Fewer than 10 popes have served at the age of 87. Francis’ predecessor, Pope Benedict XVI, lived until the age of 95 but stepped down from the papacy less than two months before his 86th birthday. The pontiff commented on his health and his age earlier this week in an exclusive interview with the Mexican news outlet N+, saying that his health has improved but also asking for prayers. “I need you to pray for my health [because] … old age does not come by itself … it does not make itself up, it presents itself as it is,” Francis said. The pope has suffered from a series of health issues over the last three years of his papacy but said in an interview that he has not considered resigning. When Benedict resigned in 2013, the former pontiff cited health issues as the primary reason.From December 2020 into January 2021, Francis canceled a few public appearances due to sciatic nerve pain. He landed in the hospital and required surgery in July 2021 with colon problems caused by diverticulitis.In January 2022, the pontiff opened up about problems he was having with his knee, which caused him to cancel several public appearances. In May 2022, Francis used a wheelchair for the first time in public since his colon surgery and announced that he would have surgery on his knee.Francis announced in January of this year that his diverticulitis had returned and canceled some public appearances in February and March due to at first a severe cold and subsequently a respiratory infection. He received surgery to repair an incisional hernia in June. In November, the pontiff canceled some trips due to the flu.Despite lingering health issues, Francis has continued to make pastoral visits around the world. He made three trips in 2021: one to Iraq, one to Hungary and Slovakia, and one to Cyprus and Greece. He made four trips in 2022, visiting Malta, Canada, Kazakhstan, and Bahrain.Pope Francis also made five trips in 2023: one to the Democratic Republic of the Congo and South Sudan, one to Hungary, one to Portugal, one to Mongolia, and another to France. The pontiff has two trips lined up for 2024: one to India and another to his native country, Argentina, with stops in Brazil and Uruguay.The Vatican has not announced birthday plans for the pope, but on his 86th birthday, Francis honored three individuals who do charitable work. The pontiff is scheduled

Italian Cardinal Giovanni Angelo Becciu (right) waits prior to the start of a consistory during which 20 new cardinals are to be created by the pope, on Aug. 27, 2022, at St. Peter's Basilica in the Vatican. / Credit: ALBERTO PIZZOLI/AFP via Getty Images CNA Staff, Dec 16, 2023 / 11:49 am (CNA). Judges delivered verdicts in the Vatican’s financial corruption trial on Saturday sentencing Cardinal Angelo Becciu to more than five years in prison and convicting five other defendants to similar jail sentences for financial crimes.Becciu, the pope’s former chief of staff, is the highest-ranking Vatican official ever to face a trial in the Vatican’s criminal court. The 75-year-old Italian cardinal was found guilty of several counts of embezzlement. The cardinal was sentenced to five and half years in prison, a permanent disqualification from holding public office, and a fine equal to more than $8,000.The Vatican court’s president, Giuseppe Pignatone, read aloud the verdict on Dec. 16 in the culmination of the nearly two-and-a-half-year-long saga of the Vatican’s “Trial of the Century,” which sat for 86 sessions.Becciu’s lawyer, Fabio Viglione, told journalists on Saturday that the cardinal “will certainly appeal” the ruling.Five other defendants were also sentenced to jail time, including Fabrizio Tirabassi, a former Vatican employee who was convicted of extortion and a money-laundering charge, and Enrico Crasso, a financial consultant for the Vatican found guilty on several charges including embezzlement. Tirabassi was given seven and a half years in prison and Crasso seven years.Italian businessman Gianluigi Torzi, who brokered the final stage of the London property at the center of the Vatican trial, was found guilty of extortion and received a six-year sentence. Raffaele Mincione, the investment manager who owned the property, was convicted of embezzlement and money laundering and given five years and six months.Cecilia Marogna, a Sardinian woman who was employed by Becciu as a security consultant, was sentenced to three years and nine months in prison.In addition to finding Becciu guilty of embezzlement of funds from the Vatican property deal in London, judges in the Vatican trial also convicted the cardinal for using Vatican money to pay Marogna and of embezzlement for sending 125,000 euros of Vatican money to a charity run by his brother in Sardinia.Monsignor Mauro Carlino, a former official in the Vatican Secretariat of State, was acquitted in the trial. The court also acquitted the other suspects of many charges, including fraud, corruption, and money laundering.Two other defendants, René Brülhart and Tommaso Di Ruzza, were convicted of failing to report a suspicious transaction and received fines of less than $2,000. Italian lawyer Nicola Squillace received a suspended sentence of one year and 10 months. In total, the three-judge tribunal ordered the confiscation of the equivalent of more than $180 million from the defendants and payment of more than $200 million of civil damages to Vatican offices.Historic ‘Trial of the Century’The historic trial centered on what happened in and around the Secretariat of State’s 350 million-euro purchase of an investment property in London between 2014

Father Marko Rupnik. / Credit: Screen shot/ACI Prensa CNA Staff, Dec 15, 2023 / 09:38 am (CNA). The Vatican has decided to shut down the religious community of sisters co-founded by accused abuser Father Marko Rupnik, the Slovenian Archdiocese of Ljubljana announced Friday.Sisters from the Loyola Community were presented with a decree on Dec. 14 from the Vatican Dicastery for Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life on the dissolution of their community “due to serious problems concerning the exercise of authority and the way of living together,” the archdiocese said.According to the Dec. 15 statement, the dissolution of the community must take place within one year. The Vatican decree ordering the dissolution of the Loyola Community was issued on Oct. 20.Rupnik co-founded the Loyola Community with Sister Ivanka Hosta in Ljubljana, Slovenia, more than three decades ago. The priest and mosaic artist was removed from the Jesuits in June after having been accused of spiritual, psychological, and sexual abuse of religious sisters. Yet the Slovenian Diocese of Koper confirmed on Oct. 25 that Rupnik was incardinated there at the end of August for priestly ministry, a revelation that sparked a public outcry and shocked Rupnik’s alleged victims.Since then, the Vatican has announced that Rupnik will face a canonical process over the abuse allegations after Pope Francis decided to waive the statute of limitations on the claims.According to one alleged Italian victim, Rupnik guided her to enter the Loyola Community in Slovenia, demanding “absolute availability and obedience,” isolating her from her friends and family, at a time when he was physically and spiritually abusing her.“Father Marko had openly started to duress other sisters in the community with the usual psycho-spiritual strategies he had already used with me, with the goal of having sex with as many women as possible,” the former Loyola sister told the Italian media outlet “Domani” in December 2022.“At the beginning of the 1990s there were 41 sisters and, from what I know, Father Rupnik managed to abuse almost 20,” she said.Rupnik acted as the Loyola Community’s chaplain until he dramatically broke from the religious community in September 1993. Several sisters left the community with Rupnik, following him to Rome, where he subsequently opened his art and theology school, the Aletti Center. The priest artist has also been accused of engaging in sex acts with consecrated women at the center.Hosta acted as the superior general of the Loyola community from 1994 to 2023. She was quietly removed from the governance of the community in June by a decree sent by Rome auxiliary bishop Daniele Libanori, SJ.The former religious superior was ordered not to have any contact with current or past members of the Loyola Community for three years and, as an “external penance,” to make a monthly pilgrimage for one year to a Marian shrine to pray “for the victims of Father Marko Ivan Rupnik’s behavior and for all the religious of the Loyola Community,” whom she is accused of harming.Libanori first uncovered allegations of

Pope Francis at the General Audience at the Vatican on Dec. 6, 2023. / Credit: Daniel Ibáñez/EWTN News Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Dec 14, 2023 / 14:20 pm (CNA). Pope Francis on Thursday urged global leaders to adopt an international treaty to regulate the development and use of artificial intelligence, saying technological research must be directed toward “the pursuit of peace and the common good.”In his message, titled “Artificial Intelligence and Peace,” the pope warned of numerous risks associated with artificial intelligence development. He emphasized that technological innovations are not neutral “but subject to cultural influences” and that caution must be exercised to prevent “falling into the spiral of a ‘technological dictatorship.’”“I hope that the foregoing reflection will encourage efforts to ensure that progress in developing forms of artificial intelligence will ultimately serve the cause of human fraternity and peace,” the pontiff said in his message, which was prepared for the 57th World Day of Peace Conference, celebrated Jan. 1, 2024. “It is not the responsibility of a few but of the entire human family,” Francis continued. “For peace is the fruit of relationships that recognize and welcome others in their inalienable dignity, and of cooperation and commitment in seeking the integral development of all individuals and peoples.”The pope said that although “‘intelligent’ machines may perform the tasks assigned to them with ever greater efficiency,” artificial intelligence is “merely ‘fragmentary’ in the sense that they can only imitate or reproduce certain functions of human intelligence.” He added the impact of such developments is heavily affected by “the aims and interests of its owners and developers” and that algorithms can replicate “the injustices and prejudices of the environments where they originate” and cannot be the standard for moral judgment. “The unique human capacity for moral judgment and ethical decision-making is more than a complex collection of algorithms, and that capacity cannot be reduced to programming a machine, which as ‘intelligent’ as it may be, remains a machine,” Francis said.One of the pope’s main concerns with artificial intelligence is its potential use in war through autonomous weapons. Such weapons, he warned, “can never be morally responsible subjects” and could also end up “in the wrong hands” and be used to facilitate “terrorist attacks” or the destabilization of “legitimate systems of government.”Also of concern, he noted, is the potential use of artificial intelligence in determining mortgage applications, job hiring, the possibility of recidivism of a person in prison, and the right to receive political asylum or social assistance. He warned that such algorithms can be “exposed to forms of bias and discrimination” and that “systemic errors can easily multiply.” He also said the technology could lead to more automation of labor jobs.“Reliance on automatic processes that categorize individuals, for instance, by the pervasive use of surveillance or the adoption of social credit systems, could likewise have profound repercussions on the social fabric by establishing a ranking among citizens,” Francis said.The pope’s comments were not entirely negative. Rather, he said artificial intelligence could be used