Cardinal  Felipe Arizmendi , Bishop Emeritus of San Cristóbal de Las Casas and responsible for the Doctrine of the Faith at the  Mexican Episcopal Conference (CEM) , offers Exaudi readers his article.

FACTS

After a two-and-a-half-month absence due to two severe bouts of pneumonia and an intestinal complication, and thanking you for your prayers for my recovery, I am writing again, God willing, to share my weekly article with you. I do this not for work, but for the grace of spreading the Gospel with the help of the Magisterium of the Church. This time, I want to comment on some parts of Pope Leo XIV’s recent encyclical,  Magnifica Humanitas,  on Artificial Intelligence (AI) and human dignity. I will begin with the most salient points in the second chapter of the document.

Many of us, and rightly so, complain about the ills of humanity: wars, forced migrations, organized crime, uncontrolled economies, racial conflicts, political divisions, lack of freedoms, disappearances, murders, kidnappings, robberies, assaults, discrimination, fraud, unjust political controls, and so on. To this we can add the more common and everyday problems, such as marital disputes and separations, child abandonment, family divisions, unemployment, illness, lack of money, especially for food and medicine, mothers searching for their children, poverty in general, and so forth.

Despite these and many other undeniable evils, it is also necessary to highlight the most positive aspects of humanity, for good people and positive actions abound, such as responsible fathers and mothers, obedient children, studious and helpful people at home and in the community, kind neighbors, attentive doctors and nurses, dedicated teachers, community organizations, peaceful and community-oriented towns, neighborhoods, and communities, social welfare programs, hardworking farmers, devoted bishops, priests, deacons, nuns, and catechists with deeply Eucharistic and apostolic parishes, and so many other people who are exemplary in their lives, their families, and their work—it would be impossible to list them all. What constitutes human dignity, and who truly matters in life? Why are human beings so magnificent?

LIGHTNING

Pope Leo XIII says:  “The Church’s social doctrine leads us to the very heart of our faith: the mystery of the living God, revealed in Jesus Christ as a communion of persons: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit: love in relationship, which gives itself reciprocally and communicates itself to the world”  (48).  “At the heart of the Christian vision of the human person is the great affirmation that man and woman are created ‘in the image and likeness’ of the Triune God. Each person, constitutively made for relationship, is conceived and willed by God to enter into a history of communion with him, with others, and with creation. His dignity does not depend on the capacities he possesses, on wealth, or on the role he plays, nor on the right or wrong decisions he makes, but is a gift that precedes and transcends him, given by God as an expression of his unfailing love. For this reason, the human person always remains the first and fundamental path of the Church and the heart of every authentic path of integral human development”  (50).

“The value of a person does not depend on what he or she does or produces; there are rights that belong to everyone simply by virtue of being a person. No human power can legitimately deny or arbitrarily limit them”  (51).  Therefore, the fundamental dignity of each person is not acquired, it does not have to be earned, nor does it need to be demonstrated. Beyond all circumstances and in whatever state or situation he or she finds himself or she, that is to say, always and inescapably”  (53).

“Human rights are not an external addition to the person, but a historical expression of his intrinsic dignity, which the international community is called to protect and promote”  (54).  “Human rights are inviolable because they are inherent in the human person and his dignity. Consequently, they are universal and inalienable… It would be futile to proclaim rights if at the same time everything necessary to ensure the duty to respect them, by all, everywhere, and for all, is not put into practice. Among these, the first human right is the right to life, from conception to natural death, without which it is impossible to exercise any other right. When this fundamental right is denied—as happens with abortion, the killing of innocents, and euthanasia—we are faced with decisions that the Church judges to be gravely illicit”  (55).  “It could happen that rights considered untouchable today may in the future be questioned or denied by those in power, perhaps after having obtained only an apparent consensus from terrified or manipulated populations”  (56).

“Along with a greater awareness of the value of every human person and their rights, there has also been a growing recognition of the rights of minorities. However, there is still a long way to go before the rights of a large part of the population, for example, those of women, are truly guaranteed throughout the world. It is a reality that women who suffer situations of exclusion, mistreatment, and violence are doubly impoverished because they frequently find themselves with fewer opportunities to defend their rights. Therefore, it is not enough to state in words that men and women have the same dignity and the same rights; this needs to be translated into concrete decisions, into laws, into access to work, to education, to social and political responsibilities, into the way in which society listens to and values ​​the contribution of women. As long as this disparity exists, we cannot say that society truly and profoundly recognizes that women have the same dignity as men”  (57).

ACTIONS

We are all precious as children of God! Even if some are not believers, or others are wicked, evil-hearted, and commit even worse deeds, they too are children of God, though we hope they will repent and live with that dignity. Let us respect, love, and help one another, for we are all brothers and sisters.