No AI in the pulpit: Pope Leo XIV warns priests against digital temptations
Pope Leo XIV has urged priests not to rely on artificial intelligence to write their homilies or seek popularity on social media platforms such as TikTok, emphasizing authenticity in pastoral ministry, reports a Qazinform News Agency correspondent.
During a closed-door dialogue with clergy of the Diocese of Rome on Feb. 19, the pontiff warned against “the temptation to prepare homilies with artificial intelligence,” according to Vatican News.
“Like all the muscles in the body, if we do not use them, if we do not move them, they die. The brain needs to be used, so our intelligence must also be exercised a little so as not to lose this capacity,” he said.
“To give a true homily is to share faith,” the Pope stressed, adding that artificial intelligence “will never be able to share faith.”
Leo XIV also cautioned priests against chasing online approval. With a life “authentically rooted in the Lord,” he said, one can offer something real, unlike “an illusion on the internet, on TikTok,” where one seeks “likes” and “followers.”
“It is not you: if we are not transmitting the message of Jesus Christ, perhaps we are mistaken, and we must reflect very carefully and humbly about who we are and what we are doing,” he noted.
Addressing the challenges facing young people, many of whom come from families marked by “very serious crises,” including divorce and abandonment, the Pope called on priests to “know their reality” and “be close to them.”
“We must go ourselves,” he said, encouraging outreach through sports, art and culture, and warning against clerical envy, or “invidia clericalis.”
Earlier, Qazinform News Agency reported that Pope Leo XIV had announced an ambitious schedule of Apostolic Journeys for the first half of 2026, with visits planned to Africa, Monaco and Spain.