Pope Leo XIV to Priests: Stop Writing Sermons Using ChatGPT

The Holy See has taken an uncompromising stance against the growing popularity of language models in pastoral ministry. Pope Leo XIV, during a series of addresses, formulated a stark warning: „The brain must be used”. According to the Bishop of Rome, delegating sermon writing to machines leads to intellectual laziness and atrophy of critical thinking. The Pope noted that a homily constitutes a sacramental act, which loses its power without the living experience of the priest. A machine, although it skillfully operates with quotes from Holy Scripture, lacks the soul and empathy necessary to reach the hearts of the faithful. The Catholic Church's relationship with modern technology has a long history; from the adoption of the printing press to the radio messages of Pius XI in 1931, the Vatican has always sought to balance innovation with the protection of the deposit of faith. The Vatican's criticism also focuses on the theological risk. Algorithms can generate so-called hallucinations, introducing doctrinal errors or simplifications contrary to tradition into Church teaching. Leo XIV also expressed particular appreciation for older priests, whose years of experience and traditional working methods he described as a foundation in the age of digital chaos. The Pope does not condemn the technology itself, but its thoughtless encroachment into the sphere of the sacred. According to the Holy See, grace is not a computational process and cannot be transmitted by programming codes from Silicon Valley. 100% — of personal intellectual effort demanded by the Pope Media worldwide, from the Spanish „La Razón” to the French „Le Parisien”, interpret this move as an attempt to preserve the authority of the clergy. In an era of widespread automation, the Pope wants the pulpit to remain a bastion of authenticity. The ban is intended to prevent the mechanization of faith and maintain the priest's role as an authentic spiritual guide, not merely a curator of content generated by processors. This decision has sparked a broad debate on the limits of implementing modern technologies in traditional institutions. „Il cervello deve essere usato. La predica non è un esercizio di copia e incolla, ma il frutto della preghiera e della riflessione.” (The brain must be used. A sermon is not a copy-and-paste exercise, but the fruit of prayer and reflection.) — Pope Leo XIV

Perspektywy mediów: Emphasizes the humanistic and ethical dimension of the ban, seeing it as a fight against the dehumanization of public life by large technology corporations. Focuses on defending the inviolability of tradition and the sacramental character of the priesthood against modern ideologies.