Maria Immacolata Church

WASHINGTON – Each year, National Maritime Day (May 22) recognizes the men and women who work or travel on the high seas. It is on this day the Catholic Church observes the National Day of Prayer and Remembrance for Mariners and People of the Sea and highlights the ministry of Stella Maris (Star of the Sea), the apostolate of the Catholic Church for the people of the sea. Bishop Brendan J. Cahill of Victoria in Texas, the bishop-promoter of Stella Maris in the United States, invites the faithful to support, remember, and pray for the many men and women who earn their livelihood through work on the seas, including merchant mariners, seafarers, fishermen, port personnel, and those in the maritime industry.

This year, Bishop Cahill is calling for special prayers of remembrance for those affected by the March 26 tragedy of the Francis Scott Key Bridge collapse in Baltimore. A Mass for the Day of Prayer and Remembrance for Mariners and People of the Sea will be offered on Saturday, May 18 at the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception in Washington, D.C. at 12:10 p.m. In the immediate wake of the cargo ship accident and bridge collapse, the Stella Maris network of port chaplains and partners mobilized to provide pastoral care and support for the crew members of the cargo ship Dali that made impact with the bridge and for crew members of other vessels in the Port of Baltimore.

“Each year, we pray for those who work on the high seas and the ports. In a special way this year, we remember those who have been impacted by the collapse of the Key Bridge, particularly the six construction workers who perished in the bridge collapse, and for their families as they mourn the loss of their loved ones,” said Bishop Cahill. “And we also pray for the captain and crew of the cargo ship, and the countless people who have been working in the aftermath of the tragedy, including the U.S. Coast Guard, Army Corps of Engineers, dive teams, first responders, construction workers, law enforcement, and government officials. Still impacted are also the thousands of dockworkers and those who rely for work in the Port of Baltimore. Worldwide, there are countless men and women who labor on the high seas for their livelihood -- let us seek the intercession of Our Lady, Star of the Sea, that she protect and guide us,” he continued.

For more information on the annual Mass, please visit: https://www.nationalshrine.org/event/annual-maritime-day-mass-2024, and for more information on the ministry of Stella Maris, please visit: https://www.usccb.org/stellamaris.

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ROME (CNS) -- Sudden peace negotiations or an intervention by the United States will not deliver Israelis and Palestinians from the suffering caused by the war in Gaza, a Jerusalem-based cardinal said.

As a result of the war, the rift between Israelis and Palestinians is "deeper than it has ever been," Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa, patriarch of Jerusalem, said May 1.

"We are all waiting for something big, something that changes the course of the history of events," he said in his homily during a Mass to formally take possession of his titular church in Rome. "We all want the United States to resolve the problem; we all want the peace negotiations to end in something big, important, in a way that marks the course of history."

But "this is not the way the kingdom of God grows," he said. "The kingdom of God grows in community, with communal gestures, calmly, little by little."

The kingdom of God is not "a miracle that is performed, suddenly changing the fate of the world," the cardinal said, rather it is "a seed sown in the ground that dies and little by little grows and bears fruit." The Catholic Church, he added, is called to be that slowly but steadily growing seed.

Cardinal Pizzaballa preached before a packed congregation in the small, historic Church of St. Onuphrius on the Janiculum Hill in Rome as he formally took possession of the church, a tradition meant to seal his identity as a member of the clergy of Rome. In ancient times, the cardinals who elected popes were pastors of the city's parishes.

Knights and dames of the Equestrian Order of the Holy Sepulchre of Jerusalem, dressed in their ceremonial capes, joined the cardinal for the celebration. The ancient Catholic chivalric order supports the Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem with prayers, financial assistance and regular pilgrimages. Cardinal Fernando Filoni, grand master of the order, participated in the Mass as did Cardinal Leonardo Sandri, vice dean of the College of Cardinals.

The congregation at the Mass also included Franciscan friars, the order to which Cardinal Pizzaballa belongs. The Church of St. Onuphrius, established in 1439, has been under the care of Franciscan Friars of the Atonement, a religious congregation founded in the United States, since 1946.

Joe Donnelly, U.S. ambassador to the Holy See, was also present for the Mass.

After the Mass, Cardinal Pizzaballa told reporters that he struggles to understand the protests taking place across college campuses in the United States over academic institutions' investments in companies that do business with Israel.

"Universities are places where cultural debate, even when heated, even when tough, should be available at 360 degrees," he said. "The contrast of completely different ideas, harsh as they may be, must be expressed not through violence or boycotting, but by knowing how to confront one another."

"The world is made of different opinions that must be confronted, not by explosions but by discussions," he said.

The Mass began with the reading of the formal declaration from Pope Francis assigning the church to Cardinal Pizzaballa when he was made a cardinal Sept. 30, 2023.

"It's stupendous that the pope thought that the patriarch of Jerusalem should be a cardinal," said Cardinal Filoni while greeting Cardinal Pizzaballa on behalf of the Order of the Holy Sepulchre at the close of Mass. "Today it unites Jerusalem, the Holy Land and the patriarchate which you represent, with the church of Rome."

Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa, patriarch of Jerusalem, distributes Communion while celebrating Mass to formally take possession of his titular church, the Church of St. Onuphrius on the Janiculum, in Rome May 1, 2024. (CNS photo/Lola Gomez)

People attend a Mass in Rome celebrated by Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa, patriarch of Jerusalem, as he formally takes possession of his titular church, the Church of St. Onuphrius on the Janiculum, May 1, 2024. (CNS photo/Lola Gomez)

Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa, patriarch of Jerusalem, preaches while celebrating Mass in Rome to formally take possession of his titular church, the Church of St. Onuphrius on the Janiculum, May 1, 2024. Seated in the center is Cardinal Fernando Filoni, grand master of the Equestrian Order of the Holy Sepulchre of Jerusalem, and to the right is Joe Donnelly, U.S. ambassador to the Holy See. (CNS photo/Lola Gomez)

Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa, patriarch of Jerusalem, greets the faithful before celebrating Mass in Rome to formally take possession of his titular church, the Church of St. Onuphrius on the Janiculum, May 1, 2024. (CNS photo/Lola Gomez)

Pope Francis' formal declaration granting Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa the title and privileges of a cardinal and assigning him his titular church is displayed before a Mass at the Church of St. Onuphrius on the Janiculum in Rome May 1, 2024. (CNS photo/Lola Gomez)

Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa, patriarch of Jerusalem, delivers his homily while celebrating Mass in Rome to formally take possession of his titular church, the Church of St. Onuphrius on the Janiculum, May 1, 2024. (CNS photo/Lola Gomez)

WASHINGTON - Pope Francis has accepted the resignation of Archbishop Leonard P. Blair, 75, from the Office of Archbishop of Hartford. Archbishop Christopher J. Coyne, up until now coadjutor archbishop of the same diocese, will succeed him as archbishop of Hartford.

The resignation and appointment were publicized in Washington, D.C. on May 1, 2024, by Cardinal Christophe Pierre, apostolic nuncio to the United States.

Archbishop Coyne’s biography may be found here.

The Archdiocese of Hartford is comprised of 2,288 square miles in the State of Connecticut and has a total population of 1,949,519 of which 543,341, are Catholic.

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VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- A foundation that promotes devotion to St. Pio of Pietrelcina, more widely known as Padre Pio, is making 10 never-before-seen photographs of the saint available to the devout for free.

The images provide personal insight into the life, attitude and spirituality of 20th-century saint, said the photographer. Some photos show Padre Pio solemnly celebrating Mass while in others he is smiling while surrounded by his confreres.

Elia Stelluto, Padre Pio's personal photographer, stood proudly -- camera in hand -- before posters of the 10 new images for the presentation of the photos in the Vatican movie theater April 29.

"It's enough to look at one image of his face" to understand Padre Pio, he told Catholic News Service. "With that you can understand so much; each photo has its own story, one must at them look one by one and that way you see so much more in his expressions."

Stelluto photographed the saint for decades at the convent where he lived in San Giovanni Rotondo, Italy.

During the photo presentation, Andrea Tornielli, editorial director of the Dicastery for Communication, said the new photos highlight Padre Pio's identity as someone who was close to those around him and was filled with joy. He said that although it was not customary to smile in photos at the time, candid photos taken by Stelluto show the saint beaming broadly as he was huddled in a group.

Luciano Lamonarca, founder and CEO of the Saint Pio Foundation which promotes devotion to the Italian saint and organized the publication of the photos, said many people would come to Stelluto requesting his photos for articles and books.

"I never saw any kind of availability for the people" to see the photos directly, he said. That's why he thought, "Padre Pio is the saint of the people, we must do something for the people."

Lamonarca, an Italian who lives in the United States, said since many people with a devotion to Padre Pio are unable to visit the areas where the saint lived and ministered, he asked himself, "how does one bring Padre Pio to them, the true Padre Pio, the most authentic form of Padre Pio?"

That's what spurred him to partner with Stelluto to make the photos available to the public, excluding their use for commercial purposes, by being free to download via the St. Pio Foundation website.

Lamonarca said he hoped that by "looking at the image of a greatly suffering father who could also laugh," people would think to themselves, "if he could laugh, we can laugh too."

Stelluto described the images he had taken of Padre Pio as "mysterious," since they always came out clearly despite dark lighting conditions.

He recalled the challenge of taking photos in a dark convent, coupled with Padre Pio's distaste for the flash of a camera, especially during Mass, and exclusive use of dim candles to light the altar.

"It's not that I was talented in doing this, I still don't understand the thing," Stelluto said during the photo presentation. "The truth is that he was the source of light."

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Access to the photos can be requested by following the link: www.therealsaintpio.org

WASHINGTON - “Health care that truly heals must be grounded in truth,” said Bishop Kevin C. Rhoades of Fort Wayne-South Bend, responding to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ (HHS) issuance of final regulations implementing the nondiscrimination provisions of the Affordable Care Act, known as Section 1557. By including “sexual orientation and gender identity” in the definition of “sex,” the final regulations generally require health care workers to perform “gender transition” procedures in the name of nondiscrimination. At the same time, the regulations make modest improvements to the proposed regulations’ protections for the exercise of conscience, religious belief, and clinical judgment.

Speaking as chairman of the Committee for Religious Liberty for the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB), he added:

“The human right to health care flows from the sanctity of human life and the dignity that belongs to all human persons, who are made in the image of God. The same core beliefs about human dignity and the wisdom of God’s design that motivate Catholics to care for the sick also shape our convictions about care for preborn children and the immutable nature of the human person. These commitments are inseparable.

“We appreciate that the final rule does not attempt to impose a mandate with regard to abortion. These regulations, however, advance an ideological view of sex that, as the Holy See has noted, denies the most beautiful and most powerful difference that exists between living beings: sexual difference. I pray that health care workers will embrace the truth about the human person, a truth reflected in Catholic teaching, and that HHS will not substitute its judgment for their own.”

The USSCB submitted comments on the proposed regulations issued by HHS in 2022, and the USCCB Committee for Religious Liberty highlighted the regulations as a major threat to religious liberty in its annual report issued in January.

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VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- By sharing their own stories and those of their parishes, pastors from around the world can help each other see where God is present and, perhaps, discover new paths the Lord wants Catholics to embark on to share the Gospel with the world, said Cardinal Mario Grech, secretary-general of the Synod of Bishops.

"Our stories are human stories, but human stories in which God, Jesus, is present," the cardinal told more than 200 parish priests gathered at Sacrofano outside of Rome April 29 at the beginning of a four-day meeting to share their experiences and contribute to the ongoing synod on synodality. The synod was scheduled to livestream the opening presentations each day.

Participants were chosen by their bishops' conferences or Eastern Catholic synods to represent parish priests working in different environments and with different levels of experience. In fact, the meeting began with Cardinal Grech congratulating a priest from Cameroon celebrating the 24th anniversary of his priestly ordination that day.

"Often it is hard to understand the way in which our stories could be the stories of God. Even I find it difficult for myself," the cardinal told them. "Our parishes are probably far from being the best parish that one could wish for. Our stories are anything but perfect. No wonder we find it difficult to understand, to discern, how our stories are God's."

But, he said, when shared in an atmosphere of prayer, people can help each other see God's presence and notice specifically "how Jesus is working today in you, in your parishes, in your dioceses."

Father Tomáš Halík, a well-known Czech theologian, encouraged the priests to be "humble" and realistic about seeing God's presence in their frustrations and failures as well.

"When Jesus first met his future apostles, they were tired and frustrated fishermen who had been fishing all night, but their nets were empty. Jesus told them, 'Try again. Go to the deep and let down your nets to fish,'" he said. "Perhaps Jesus is saying the same thing to us today: don't despair, don't give up, try again."

But, Father Halik said, "to try again is not to repeat past methods and old mistakes. Trying again often means trying in a new and fresh way."

For instance, he said, "for more than 100 years, regular prayers, novenas, fasts, eucharistic adoration and pilgrimages have been held in our part of the world to beg for new priestly and religious vocations. However, the number of vocations continues to decline."

"Does this mean that God does not hear our petitions?" he asked, or could it mean "that we do not hear his answer to them?"

Father Halik asked the priests to consider if God is responding to the conventional way of understanding priestly ministry and selecting candidates for the priesthood by saying it "no longer resonates with what I expect for the future. Please do not knock on the door I have closed for you. Instead, boldly and creatively seek the ones I want to open for you."

Oftentimes, the theologian said, having faith means having the courage to embrace a mystery.

"God comes to us as future, as a new, unknown and surprising future," he said. "The living, real Christ overcomes all of our closed-mindedness, all locked doors of our souls. He gives us his Spirit to lead us in new ways."

Cardinal Lazarus You Heung-sik, prefect of the Dicastery for Clergy, welcomed the participants, telling them that a synodal style of being a parish or a universal church "does not take anything away from the specific service we are called to carry out as pastors, but it adds something and improves it. I am convinced this is the great gift that the Holy Spirit has put in our hands today."

WASHINGTON - On May 11-12, Catholics across the United States will have an opportunity to support the communications ministry of the Catholic Church, both locally and globally through the Catholic Communication Campaign.

“Saint Peter himself could not have imagined today’s communication ministries when he told the first Christians to have a ready answer for anyone who questioned their faith. He would have been awed with what can be achieved through social media, video, podcasts and apps,” said Archbishop Gregory J. Hartmayer, OFM Conv., of Atlanta, chairman of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ (USCCB) Subcommittee on the Catholic Communication Campaign.

“The many means of communications today allow the Catholic Church to use these tools with love, for good and to the glory of God by inviting people to engage more fully in the faith and using them as a means for evangelization. The Catholic Communication Campaign helps to make this a reality.”

Most dioceses take this annual collection in their parishes on the weekend of May 11-12, though some use other dates. Half of the gifts to the diocesan collection stay in the participating diocese where they support the local diocese’s communications programs. The other half supports communication activities of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops and some projects across the United States and abroad.

The Catholic Communication Campaign provides vital funding for the collective communication efforts of the U.S. bishops. More than $3.6 million in campaign funds supported both national and international Catholic media outreach in 2022, as shown in the campaign’s most recent annual report. About 35% of those funds supported evangelization through media, such as podcasts, videos and documentaries. A nearly equal amount underwrote Catholic News Service in Rome, which has provided the Catholic Church in the United States with accurate, in-depth coverage of the Vatican and the Holy Father since 1950.

Smaller amounts subsidized a wide range of projects, such as equipping Church-related social ministries with the digital tools to promote concerns such as ecology, human life and dignity, social justice, and immigration reform. The campaign sponsors Catholic Current, a weekly news show on YouTube and some Catholic television and radio stations that explores the activities of the U.S. bishops. The collection also supports the USCCB’s popular video reflections on the daily Mass readings, which feature lay and religious leaders of diverse cultural backgrounds and pastoral experiences.

For more information and promotional resources visit https://www.usccb.org/ccc. #iGiveCatholicTogether accepts funds for this collection.

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VENICE, Italy (CNS) -- Visiting a lagoon of tiny islands, canals and narrow walkways for one day, Pope Francis moved around Venice by boat, bridge and electric golf cart. 

Tourists and residents, however, came to a standstill; many were marooned in small neighborhoods as security shut down entire streets and severely limited regular waterway traffic.

The pope's early morning touchdown by helicopter from Rome April 28 brought him first to a women's prison, then by wooden motorboat to the Basilica of St. Mary of Health, a 17th-century church built to honor Mary, invoking her protection and intercession to end a devastating plague that killed nearly one-third of the population in the 1630s. 

About 1,500 young people were in front of the basilica singing and cheering to greet the pope as he arrived waving from the boat decorated with a small Vatican flag. He took his place on a chair near the steps looking out onto the turquoise-blue water. 

"Arise and go!" he told them. "Open your heart to God, thank him and embrace the beauty that you are; fall in love with your life." 

"Walk together with others, color the world with your creativity and paint the streets of life with the Gospel," he said.

Young people must resist inertia and discouragement, he said, "because we are made for Heaven." Tell God, "Here I am!" and recognize and welcome the gift of being made "precious and irreplaceable."

No one is ugly, and everyone carries a priceless treasure inside that is meant to be shared with others, he said. "This is not self-esteem, it is reality! Recognizing this is the first step we should take in the morning when we wake up: get out of bed and accept yourself as a gift." 

"Remember that for God, you are not a digital profile," he said, but "a child of heaven."

But, just like Venice, the pope said, people are beautiful and fragile at the same time. Take care of these fragilities and recognize that God always extends a hand, not to blame or punish, but to heal and lift people back up.

Never get isolated, even when one's friends are stuck at home behind screens and video games, he told the young people.

This is not easy, he said, but take advice from Venetian wisdom that says one can only go far by consistently and steadily rowing.

It is tiring, he said, especially when one must go against the tide, but perseverance brings rewards, and it is better done together and with God's guidance. 

Accompanied by a delegation of young people, Pope Francis then went by electric golf cart to St. Mark's Square by crossing a "bridge of boats," a floating pontoon bridge that is a traditional Venetian way of temporarily connecting opposite shores. Guests, some still in bathrobes, staying at a waterfront hotel peered out their large balcony windows to see the unusual sight. 

More than 10,000 people packed the huge square for Mass and to pray the "Regina Coeli." In his homily, the pope said Jesus' metaphor of being the grapevine while believers are the branches "expresses God's loving care for us; it also warns us that if we sever this connection with the Lord, we cannot produce fruits of good life and risk becoming dry branches, which will be cast aside."

"This is what matters: to remain in the Lord, to dwell in him," which does not mean standing still or being passive. "Indeed, it invites us to move, because to remain in the Lord means to grow in relationship with him."

"As we gaze upon this city of Venice today, we admire its enchanting beauty. Yet, we are also concerned about the many issues that threaten it: climate change, which impacts the waters of the lagoon and the land," he said. 

He highlighted the problems facing the city's architecture, cultural heritage and people, noting "the difficulty of creating an environment that is fit for human beings through adequate tourism management."

Christians must remain united to Christ so "we can bring the fruits of the Gospel into the reality we inhabit: fruits of justice and peace, fruits of solidarity and mutual care; carefully-made choices to preserve our environmental and human heritage," he said.

"We need our Christian communities, neighborhoods and cities to become welcoming, inclusive and hospitable places," he said. 

After Mass and the "Regina Coeli" prayer, the pope greeted the faithful in the square and went into St. Mark's Basilica to venerate the relics of St. Mark the Evangelist. He also greeted local volunteers who assisted with the visit and then returned to Rome by helicopter. By early afternoon, the streets, squares and waterways of Venice were again freed up for the throngs of visitors.  
 

Around 10,500 people gather in St. Mark’s Square in Venice to attend Mass with Pope Francis April 28, 2024. (CNS photo/Lola Gomez)

Pope Francis accepts the offertory gifts as he celebrates Mass in St. Mark's Square in Venice April 28, 2024. (CNS photo/Lola Gomez)

Pope Francis delivers his homily as he presides over Mass in St. Mark's Square in Venice April 28, 2024. (CNS photo/Lola Gomez)

Pope Francis greets people from a golf cart as he rides around St. Mark's Square before his Mass in Venice April 28, 2024. (CNS photo/Lola Gomez)

Pope Francis prays in front of the relics of St. Mark the Evangelist in St. Mark's Basilica in Venice April 28, 2024. (CNS photo/Lola Gomez)

Pope Francis arrives by boat from Giudecca Island to the Basilica of St. Mary of Health in Venice April 28, 2024, to meet with young people. (CNS photo/Lola Gomez)

About 1,500 young people gather with Pope Francis in front of the Basilica of St. Mary of Health in Venice April 28, 2024. (CNS photo/Lola Gomez)

Pope Francis talks to curators, special guests and artists at the chapel of the Giudecca women's prison in Venice April 28, 2024. (CNS photo/Vatican Media)

Pope Francis gives his blessing to a female detainee inside the courtyard of the Giudecca women's prison in Venice April 28, 2024. (CNS photo/Vatican Media)

Pope Francis talks to female detainees inside the courtyard of the Giudecca women's prison in Venice April 28, 2024. (CNS photo/Vatican Media)

Pope visits Venice

Highlights from Pope Francis' visit to Venice April 28, 2024.

VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- Before converting to Catholicism, Michael Baggot took his questions about faith and the church to the first place many people go with their questions: the internet.

Now a member of the Legionaries of Christ and a priest, Father Baggot spoke of "how important those online resources were for me in providing information and guidance, and how instrumental in God's providence they were to bring me eventually to baptism, to confirmation and to first holy Communion."

But some 20 years after his conversion, the internet has radically changed. Artificially intelligent chatbots are becoming a normal means for accessing information while omnipresent algorithms largely determine the type of content people encounter online in search results and on social media. And the Catholic Church is taking notice.

Pope Francis focused his messages for the church's 2024 celebrations of World Peace Day and World Communications Day on the use of artificial intelligence. He wrote that AI-powered systems "can help to overcome ignorance and facilitate the exchange of information," but he voiced his concern that such a rapid digital revolution can imprison people in "echo chambers" and leave humanity "adrift in a mire of confusion, prey to the interests of the market or of the powers that be."

Speaking at a conference April 18, Father Baggot said that while Catholics must have "an awareness of human sin and the capacity to misuse technology" when thinking about artificial intelligence, they must also have "confidence in grace, in redemption and the ability to harness these technologies well."

To that end, the conference at the Pontifical Oriental Institute, a Jesuit-run academic institution dedicated to studying Eastern Christianity, explored how the church can leverage the power of artificially intelligent tools to its benefit, showcasing two products developed by Longbeard -- a digital services company focused on Catholic-related projects.

MagisteriumAI, a large language model with an interface similar to ChatGPT's, seeks to synthesize and explain church teaching in natural language while drawing from more than 5,700 magisterial documents and over 2,300 Catholic theological and philosophical works. The other tool, Vulgate, allows scholars to upload entire libraries onto a platform, converting the contents into data that can be easily searched for, translated and summarized.

"When we saw ChatGPT out there and we learned that Catholics were using it to ask doctrinal questions and things like that, it drove us to then say, can we do this better than ChatGPT?" Matthew Sanders, CEO of Longbeard, said at the forum.

He demonstrated how MagisteriumAI responded to several different queries posed to it in different languages. One question he asked was, "What does the church say about Islam?" to which MagisteriumAI responded, "The Church regards Muslims with esteem" before elaborating further and citing six magisterial documents that users could read by following the links.

"When ChatGPT first came out, one of the concerns was it was generating responses but not providing transparency as to where that generation came from," Sanders said. "One of the first things we tried to do when we designed this AI system was to make sure there is transparency so that whatever answer is being generated by the system, you can see where that generation is coming from."

He added that the MagisteriumAI team had implemented a number of techniques to improve the tool's accuracy by greatly cutting down on its rate of "hallucinations" -- when AI systems provide incorrect and sometimes incoherent information in an effort to provide a response at any cost, even when they do not have the information available to do so.

Still, Sanders noted that the product is still in its beta stage and needs improvement although it is already being used in 150 countries by people ranging from bishops to high school students.

Catholic News Service asked him about the potential risks of entrusting complicated pastoral questions to an AI system. For example, when asked whether a Catholic priest can bless people in a same-sex relationship, MagisteriumAI answered "no," despite recent guidance from the Vatican allowing priests to discern when such a blessing could be opportune.

MagisteriumAI is "a tool that can be useful in some cases and in others, not so much," Sanders said. "All of its answers may not be perfect, if it seems like it's imperfect you should talk to a human being."

He added that it is particularly important to educate students and communities in the use of AI tools such as MagisteriumAI "so they understand what it is and what it is not."

Discussing MagisteriumAI as an evangelization tool, Father Baggot said, "When you start to explore the church's resources, you can be very easily intimidated by a long list of Latin titles, but with a system like MagisteriumAI you can enter into a kind of dialogue, and you can begin right with the questions that interest you most and that will eventually open you up to the broader picture."

"I see this as a great tool to first engage and give a kind of safe space, if you will, where people can explore these issues that they would never bring up to friends or family or other colleagues at a certain moment in their life," he said, noting that after online information gathering people will eventually want to talk to a human being about their questions.

"It's meant to bring us to another in-person experience," he said.

AI: The church's response

Father Philip Larrey, a professor of philosophy at Rome's Pontifical Lateran University talks about the challenges and promises of artificial intelligence.

    
VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- The most important outcome of the current Synod of Bishops on synodality is the synodal process itself and not the hot-button topics discussed, Pope Francis said.

With the second synod assembly scheduled for October, the pope said the synod process is approaching its "most challenging and important" stage -- the point at which it must become "prophetic."

"Now it is a matter of translating the work of the previous stages into choices that will give impetus and new life to the mission of the church in our time," he told members of the Italian Catholic Action lay association in a packed St. Peter's Square April 25.

But he noted that "the most important thing of this synod is synodality, the subjects and topics (discussed) are there to advance this expression of the church that is synodality."

"For this, there is a need for people forged in the Spirit, for 'pilgrims of hope,'" Pope Francis said, "men and women capable of charting and walking new and challenging paths."

In March, Pope Francis decided that some of the most controversial issues raised at the first synod assembly "requiring in-depth study" will be examined by study groups; the groups are to issue preliminary reports to the synod assembly in October and give their final reports to the pope by June 2025.

The 10 themes to be explored by the study groups include the guidelines for priestly formation, the role of women in the church and their participation in community leadership, listening to the poor and the criteria for selecting bishops.

While some questions require deeper study, Pope Francis told the crowd to "be athletes and standard bearers of synodality in the dioceses and parishes of which you are part, for a full implementation of the (synodal) path taken so far."

The Vatican said that 60,000 children, young people and adults were gathered in and around St. Peter's Square for the association's meeting with the pope.

Italian Catholic Action is a lay Catholic association with roots going back to 1867. In 2021, Vatican News reported that the group had more than 270,000 members.

Looking out into the crowd gathered within the arms of Bernini's colonnade, the pope asked them to promote peace by being witnesses of the human embrace.

"At the origin of wars are often missed or rejected embraces, which are followed by prejudice, misunderstanding, suspicion, to the point of seeing the other as an enemy," he said. "All this is unfortunately before our eyes these days in too many parts of the world."

Pope Francis also encouraged them to let themselves be embraced by God's love which is revealed in the Eucharist and in Christ on the cross.

"Brothers and sisters, let us be embraced by him, like children," he said. "We each have something childlike in our hearts that needs a hug. Let us be embraced by the Lord, that way, in the embrace of the Lord we learn to embrace others."