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The Rome Call underlines the need for “algor-ethics,” which, according to the text, is the ethical use of artificial intelligence according to the principles of transparency, inclusion, accountability, impartiality, reliability, security, and privacy. The text quotes the Universal Declaration of Human Rights in pointing to the equal dignity and rights of all humans, which AI must protect and guarantee, it says, while calling equally for the “benefit of humanity and the environment.” It states there are three requirements for “technological advancement to align with true progress for the human race and respect for the planet” — it must be inclusive, have the good of humankind at its core, and care for the planet with a highly sustainable approach. Robbins said that “the Rome Call principles...

(Image: Alan Liu/Unsplash.com) The claim implicit in the title of the DDF’s recently published Declaration, Dignitas Infinita (DI), has generated considerable controversy. The matter of infinite dignity Do human beings have infinite dignity? Certainly, those who through baptism receive a share in the divine nature, which is by definition infinite, also share in the infinite dignity of that nature. This is surely what Pope St. John Paul II had in mind when he said: “In Jesus Christ, God has shown us in an unsurpassable way how he loves every single person and confers on them infinite [unendliche] dignity through Christ.” John Paul was plainly affirming that God gives people that dignity through Jesus’ death and resurrection. One might object to John Paul’s clai...

University says it does not cover abortion even though plan says so Xavier University’s health insurance plan not only appears to cover abortion – it looks like the school specifically added it into the coverage. But the Catholic Cincinatti university denies its student health insurance plan covers abortion. A “policy endorsement” on the plan appeared to delete an “exclusion” of abortion. The plan lists abortion as a “Non-EHB [Essential Health Benefit] benefits added to plan via additional endorsement.” It includes, like other covered benefits, the amount the plan pays for in-network and out-of-network providers. The following page shows the “policy endorsement” appears to be signed by university President Colleen Hanycz. “Benefits will be paid at the benefits levels indicated in the sched...

Just because you see something done in a movie, that doesn’t mean you should try it yourself. Take, for example, a human running on top of a moving train. For starters, you can’t be sure it’s real. In early Westerns, they used moving backdrops to make fake trains look like they were in motion. Now there’s CGI. Or they might speed the film up to make a real train look faster than it really is. So here’s a question for you: Is it possible to run on a train roof and leap from one car to the next? Or will the train zoom ahead of you while you’re in the air, so that you land behind where you took off? Or worse, would you end up falling between the cars because the gap is moving forward, lengthening the distance you have to traverse? This, my friend, is why st...

DIFFICULT MORAL QUESTIONS: Beware the moral pitfalls that can turn licit toleration into sinful cooperation. Q. In a secular workplace, would it be morally wrong for Catholic employees to sign a mandatory professional code of conduct in which they agree to not discriminate against anyone based on a variety of factors, including “sexual orientation,” “gender identity” and “gender expression”? Would acknowledging these terms in writing be considered promotion of the ideology that they represent? What if the alternative to not signing such a code of conduct were termination of employment and/or revocation of a professional license? — Kaylyn A. Since you have no intention of denying any rightful moral or professional claims to your gender-confused colleagues, signing such a document should pos...

Over the past few days, there has been discussion on X/Twitter – and I suppose elsewhere – of the morality of the United States dropping the atomic bomb on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Not that this is a new discussion, but it rose again because of Tucker Carlson’s strong statement on Joe Rogan’s show that the act was immoral. As I perused various arguments on That App, especially among Catholics, one person I didn’t see mentioned – and this rather surprised me – was Catholic philosopher and Oxford Don Elizabeth Anscombe. Anscombe was a fascinating figure – Catholic convert, student of Wittgenstein, married, mother of seven and important figure in 20th century philosophy. Gertrude Elizabeth Margaret Anscombe was one of the most important philosophers of the twentieth century. She worked on an u...

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‘And it happened that, while he was with them at table, he took bread, said the blessing, broke it, and gave it to them. With that their eyes were opened and they recognized him, but he vanished from their sight.’ (Luke 24:30-31) “What a strange feeling it is to be looking at what by all appearances is a piece of bread in a little glass compartment in the center of a very simple gold monstrance and feel like you are the one being stared at.” Emily Bleicher shared this experience with the Register about her witness to the true presence of Christ in the Eucharist when she was a Protestant. Through a moment of grace, she recognized Jesus beyond her own understanding. I met Emily last summer at a church event. She had arrived in town the week earlier to attend the University of Mary for gradua...

By Dr. Jeff Mirus ( bio – articles – email ) | Apr 19, 2024 In the Psalms, one of the arguments used with some frequency by those who feel abandoned by God runs like this: First, a rhetorical question is asked about whether the dead can praise God—the presumed answer being “No”. Second, the conclusion is drawn that God should aid the one who calls upon Him—so that the one aided can sing God’s praise. This rhetorical questioning is so similar to traditional Jewish humor that one might wonder about its theological sincerity, but I believe the popularity of the argument derives from the early Jewish ambivalence about the nature of what we call “the after life”. The reader will remember that even in Our Lord’s time on earth, the Pharisees believed in the resurrection of the dead bu...

A blessing, jobs for the boys, and Roman holiday Skip to content Pillar subscribers can listen to this Pillar Post here: The Pillar TL;DR Happy Friday friends, And hello from Rome. It has been a very productive few days for us here, checking in with friends and gathering threads on a few stories we’ve been working on in the background for a while now. It’s also been an important few days for The Pillar. After some serious encouragement from many of you, and seriously encouraging responses to our request to help us bring Edgar Beltrán on full time as our new man in Rome, we sealed the deal this week. Edgar will be starting properly in a few months, as he and his family sort through the logistical hurdles of moving here, but we couldn’t be happier to have him on board.  I think he’s goi...

“This destroyed household that now stands between the sexes is a wound that is suffered inescapably by both men and women.” My eyes were opened when I read these words of Wendell Berry. My wife’s suffering in a home arrangement that has shown itself more and more to be unnatural is in fact also very much my problem; indeed, a problem for our marriage. There is something unnatural about the home that is consumptive and non-productive, and that is left almost exclusively in the care of a housewife while her husband works somewhere else (indeed, even if ‘remotely’ from home). The most obvious casualty in this form of home has been and is the wife, often overwhelmed and isolated while also stripped of many of the richer aspects of her work in the home. Berry writes, “Thus housewifery, once a c...

Is Parolin actually papabile? Skip to content This week saw reports drawn from another book-length interview from Pope Francis, this time detailing the pope’s own recollections of conclave politics from 2005 and 2013.  As the pope continues to discuss conclaves, past and future, attention is beginning to focus on the likely frontrunners to succeed him, whenever the day may come.  Vatican Secretary of State Cardinal Pietro Parolin. © Mazur/catholicnews.org.uk. With early agreement around the likely “left” and “right” candidates for the next conclave, some are beginning to wonder if Cardinal Pietro Parolin could emerge as the consensus cardinal of the “sensible center” and offer an alternative to a divisive showdown in the Sistine Chapel. But what are the chances of a “Pope Parolin...