The early Church once called mass media “detestable” and through it, “monstrosities of error are disseminated in great multitude—small in size, but enormous in malice.” That was in 1832, when Pope Gregory XVI issued his fourth encyclical Mirari Vos in response to the growing liberalism in France and Europe that challenged the Church’s role in society.
But from Vatican II onwards, the Church considered communication and all modern technology not as monstrosities disseminating error, but for St. Paul VI, “arms which now permit a frontal battle against evil”, and “providential gifts of God for human existence and redemptive activity”. In many opportunities throughout his papacy, St John Paul II also acknowledged how communications media led in the formation of public opinion on children, family, elderly, and the youth, for promotion of solidarity and fraternity, and in the service of justice, peace, and responsible human freedom.
This article was reproduced from the second of two keynote speeches delivered at the CFC Veritas Forum last June 18, 2025, at SPACE at One Ayala, Makati City. As Catholics, the Forum’s theme of “The Ethical Use of AI and Social Media” emphasizes our CFC community’s stance that technology and theology should be intertwined in the mission of evangelization.
This second keynote entitled “Katuwang Tao: Incarnating Theology in the Age of Transhuman AI Technology” is an intimate look on the broad strokes of preaching the Gospel in the realm of human and artificial intelligence. Our speaker was Rev. Fr. Norman Melchor R. Peña Jr., SSP, PhD, DSComm, dean of St. Paul Seminary and a member of the board of trustees in the Asian Research Center for Religion and Social Communication. His insights for the session were a culmination of reflections arising from the theology and management classes he taught in the Philippines, Australia, and Rome.
Incarnating AI
Nowadays AI occupies space, in the form of virtual space—an instantiation which Fr. Norman describes as AI incarnation. AI receives embodiment, flesh—a “katawang tao” or “body of man”. Developments in AI encourage man to transcend himself—or become transhuman—by giving rise to new possibilities in the dynamics of human nature. But while AI can make most people better off, it is not unexpected that many concerns remain regarding its ethical use.
Our technological age rejoices as AI becomes closer to mimicking our human activities. However, the real call—for the Church and by the Church—is for AI not to have “katawang tao” or a “body of man”, but to be “katuwang ng tao” or “companion of man”. Technology is merely an attribute of human communication, whether mechanical, oral, or written. And despite this dynamic intersection between technology, cognition, and action, AI should never replace humans or make us inartificial.
Fr. Norman continued with some philosophical definitions of artificial and inartificial intelligence. Usually, what people consider to be artificial are the outputs of AI workflows and LLMs—thus the general advice to always fact-check their outputs. Though once such outputs are evaluated to be useful and from reliable sources, Fr. Norman posits that the outputs can already be considered inartificial. However, when used by the person who retrieved the data (i.e. the person who started the workflow), it is the user—the human person—that becomes artificial.
Fr. Norman asserted the need to “spiritualize technology” and “technologize spirituality”, to put AI in its place as “katuwang ng tao”. To spiritualize technology is to put God in the picture as we leverage AI tools in our lives. To technologize spirituality is to commit, consistently, to use such tools ethically and responsibly in digital evangelization.
He recounted how, in a message to scientists and church leaders gathered for the Dicastery of Culture and Education’s Minerva Dialogues in 2023, Pope Francis lauded AI’s potential “to contribute to the future of humanity”, but its ethical and responsible use for such potential to be realized. Theology, by definition, uses human intelligence and reasoning to understand God, so that humankind may conform their lives to His will.
In contrast to the first session on AI from the perspective of technology, Fr. Norman focused on the theological standpoint: how our faith must be anchored on incarnating God, who is Christ defined as “Veritas, Via, Evita”—the Truth, Way, and Life.
The Image of God in discerning AI use
The realm of digital evangelization has often been described as a mission, one that began in the New Testament with the words “Go out to the world and proclaim the Good News.” Fr. Norman explained that the mission began not with the Jesus’ apostles, but with the words from the Old Testament “Let there be light.”
It was the Father who first desired to share who He is with the world, thus creating us in His own image and likeness. All humans therefore enjoy a personal communion with Him, further called to “Be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect.” (Matthew 5:48). His goodness that resides in each of us leads us to stewardship of His creations and fruitful relationships with one another, and that is when the mission of evangelization begins for us.
However, Fr. Norman traced the Biblical meaning of perfection from its Greek root “telos”, which meant “without flaw or error”. But because humanity can never be flawless as God, he noted how Bible scholars have encouraged the Hebrew term “tam”, which instead defined perfection as “maturity”. This was because our unique personalities, alongside our capacity to think and decide for ourselves, allowed us to change what is utterly evil into what is utterly good. And it is maturity that differentiates human beings from robots and AI—and brings us closer to perfection as Imago Dei.
He emphasized this with a short exercise of identifying, from a caricature of 12 people in a circle, who among them was near-perfect. After much discussion and interaction with the audience, he shared his profound reflection. The one who was near-perfect was, in fact, the person looking at the picture.
Ordered Love in upholding human dignity
During the 2014 World Day of Social Communications, Pope Francis emphasized how it was not enough to simply be connected as “passersby on the digital highways”. For the late pope, “…connections need to grow into true encounters. We cannot live apart, closed in on ourselves. We need to love and to be loved. We need tenderness.” Beyond connecting us to the right answers, AI should be able to create relationships.
Fr. Norman illustrated how technologically advanced nations often fail to see this imperative for relationships, by recalling the January 2025 remarks of Trump ally and US Vice President JD Vance. Vance, a Catholic, had called on the “old-school” concept of Ordo Amoris in defense of the US policy on deporting immigrants, claiming that Americans must love first their fellow citizens before reaching out to the rest of the world. But Pope Francis, in a letter to the US bishops, strongly clarified this hierarchical view. Fr. Norman explained how the Augustinian definition of Ordo Amoris was about seeking reconciliation: putting things in order, so as not to conflict with others. Ordo Amoris, or love in order, was to see the good as God has created it to be.
Both rich and poor nations will always have something to receive or give for one another—thus the need for authentic encounters in the world. In this age of technological advancement and transhuman incarnation we are called to embody our God, who does not judge at once but rather sees the good in every human person.
The Mission of God in building digital connections
Vatican II emphasized how the mission of God, or Missio Dei, was based on the Trinitarian mission, thus the Church’s missionary nature to be relational. From this, Christian life participates in this thrust when we strive to be united with one another, “so that they may believe You have sent Me.”
Fr. Norman related Missio Dei as misericordia (mercy), which in Hebrew was “Rahamin” or “compassion”. However, Fr. Norman pointed out how, with this definition, the poor can choose not to be merciful or compassionate when they have nothing to give. Instead, he encouraged the other Hebrew term “Hesed”, which meant “faithfulness”, “commitment”, or “promise”. Here, it can be said that anyone who is faithful to their promises and commitments—whether between husbands and wives, for family, or for duties—is already being merciful and thus fulfilling the mission of God. Mission is faithfulness to the promise and not just giving when you are overflowing, because God’s mission is to always be faithful.
Where AI tries to be a human being, we are all asked to be human. Fr. Norman emphasized how human beings relate to bodily functions, while being human pertained to human acts such as being kind, generous, and loving. Thus, the theology of being human refers not necessarily to how one uses their humanness, but how one makes their humanness known. When our identities as humans become determined by our tools and technology such as AI, we disappear.
When we are on social media, Fr. Norman asks, does it reflect us as human beings? Or are we being human? He emphasized how our goal must not be to coexist with AI or have our bodily functions mastered by it, but to use it creatively—to partner with AI as we communicate with the world.
In love with God in the AI age
AI must reflect how God has loved us, because we also recognize that we are God’s beloved. For Pope Francis, we can confront the newness of our fast-paced modern times “only by adopting a spiritual way of viewing reality, only by recovering a wisdom of the heart.” Our role was to simply show that we are in love with God, and Fr. Norman highlighted this with three key passages from the late Pope’s fourth encyclical Dilexit Nos:
DN 209: Mission, as a radiation of the love of the heart of Christ, requires missionaries who are themselves in love and who, enthralled by Christ, feel bound to share this love that has changed their lives.
DN 210: To be able to speak of Christ, by witness or by word, in such a way that others seek to love him, is the greatest desire of every missionary of souls.
DN 211: Christ asks you never to be ashamed to tell others, with all due discretion and respect, about your friendship with him. He asks that you dare to tell others how good and beautiful it is that you found him.
The challenge is how to remain loving when we have strong emotions—such as anger—from what we witness or experience on the digital continent. We must remember that God loves us, and even though He never forgets our smallest sins, is still able to forgive us because He remembers the good in our hearts—and that He is our Father, our Creator.
In the same way we must strive to reconcile with others not to discover who is at fault, but for the good, loving relationship that was broken. And for Fr. Norman, that is our way of loving in terms of technology.
The theological perspective on AI
Humans are the best AI that God could have wanted and created, and Fr. Norman underscored this by ending the keynote with some reflection questions that prompted the audience to consider whether they have disappeared because their identities were mastered by the technology instead.
The audience was also invited to make guidelines on the use of AI, based on the values they wanted CFC to embrace. The final challenge was how, through AI, we can become who we really are as human beings.
Article by Bianca Angeli Arellano. Written without the help of AI.