By Archbishop Salvatore Joseph Cordileone
As another school year begins, many families are wondering what artificial intelligence (AI) will mean for their children’s Catholic education. Many have referred to this cultural moment as a technological “revolution.” AI is already changing the way students research, write, solve problems and communicate. Its capabilities present extraordinary opportunities and significant challenges, especially in the arena of education.
In one of his first addresses shortly after his election, Pope Leo XIV explained why he chose the name “Leo.” He pointed to his predecessor, Pope Leo XIII, whose 1891 encyclical “Rerum Novarum,” Latin for “new things” responded to the upheavals and “new things,” brought about by another revolution, the Industrial Revolution of the late-19th and early-20th centuries. Speaking to the College of Cardinals, Pope Leo XIV explained:
“In our own day, the Church offers to everyone the treasury of her social teaching in response to another industrial revolution and to developments in the field of artificial intelligence that pose new challenges for the defense of human dignity, justice and labor.” (Address to the College of Cardinals, May 10, 2025)
As with every “new thing,” the Church is not indifferent to this moment. In every age, the Church is called to read the signs of the times and to interpret them in the light of the Gospel (“Gaudium et spes,” 4). Just as Leo XIII’s reflection on the “new things” brought about by the Industrial Revolution gave rise to the rich treasury of Catholic social teaching in the 20th century, so too, in this moment the Church has the opportunity to face the AI revolution with the light of Christ, and Catholic schools play a crucial role by responding as they always have — by offering a distinctively humanizing formation.
Already in his still-young pontificate, Pope Leo XIV has had much to say about AI, dedicating his first full encyclical to the topic, titled “Magnifica Humanitas: On Safeguarding the Human Person in the Age of AI” (May 2026). The Holy Father frequently made clear that the AI question is not simply a technological question but a human question. If the first Industrial Revolution moved the Church to defend the dignity of workers, today’s technological revolution calls us to defend the dignity of the human person and to promote what is distinctly and authentically human.
The Second Vatican Council’s Declaration on Christian Education taught that “true education is directed towards the formation of the human person in view of his final end and of the good of the societies of which he is a member” (“Gravissimum Educationis,” 1). The Church has always understood that education is about far more than the transmission of information. Catholic schools have always been recognized for academic excellence and preparing students for college or careers. Important though those goals are, Catholic education seeks to form the whole person — mind, heart, body and soul — so that young people may come to know and love the truth and ultimately to know Christ, who is “the way, the truth and the life.” (Jn 14:6)
No advance in technology can make that mission obsolete. Catholic schools remain firmly rooted in Jesus Christ, who is “the same yesterday and today and forever” (Heb 13:8). Whatever changes the future may bring, the deepest needs of the human heart remain the same.
One of the greatest gifts Catholic schools offer today is something increasingly rare: silence. Authentic human formation includes cultivating the capacity to listen — to teachers, to one another and ultimately to the gentle voice of God. If our children become accustomed to constant stimulation, instant answers and endless digital noise, they may never develop the habits of reflection necessary for prayer and contemplation. Silence is not simply the absence of sound; it is the space where truth can be encountered.
Pope Francis often reminded educators that authentic education must unite “the language of the head, the heart and the hands” (Address to trustees of the University of Notre Dame, Jan. 30, 2014). True education can never be reduced to intellectual achievement alone. Authentic human formation speaks not only to what students know, but also what they love and how they live.
For this reason, Catholic schools are deeply committed to the formation of conscience and the cultivation of virtue. Young people must learn not only how to think critically, but how to discern wisely. Without moral formation, even the most powerful technologies can be misused. A person who lacks the virtues of prudence, justice, courage and temperance will struggle to use AI responsibly or to recognize what is true and good, even in the most sophisticated AI-generated response.
As Pope Leo XIV writes in “Magnifica Humanitas”: “No computational system, however sophisticated, can create a heart that gives itself, or a conscience that discerns good from evil. Even when machines excel in efficiency, a human face that asks to be gazed upon remains the center of our history” (233).
Artificial intelligence may someday answer nearly every factual question a student can ask. It cannot answer the most important questions: What is the purpose of my life? Why should I choose goodness over selfishness? How do I become a saint? Those answers are discovered not through algorithms but through encounter — with truth, with authentic human relationships and ultimately with the living Christ.
Teachers do far more than explain lessons or assign grades. Together with parents, they accompany young people towards becoming who God has made them to be. They help form students whose minds seek truth, whose consciences are well formed and whose lives are marked by sanctity.
AI will no doubt continue to become ever more efficient and yet every child will still long for truth, goodness, beauty, friendship, love and sanctity. Every child will still be called by God to become a saint.
Catholic schools play an indispensable role in that mission by offering an authentically human formation that shapes the intellect, forms the conscience, cultivates virtue and leads every student toward the One in whom everything human finds its fullest meaning, something no algorithm or chatbot can replace.
I remain deeply grateful to the families who entrust their children to our Catholic schools and to the principals, teachers, pastors and staff who share in this sacred ministry each day. Thank you for the witness you give and the lives you help shape. Be assured of my prayers as together we begin another joyful year of forming young people to know, love and serve Jesus Christ.
