Archbishop Eamon Martin has urged Catholics to ensure that artificial intelligence and digital technologies do not obscure the dignity of the human person, warning that the Church must “preserve human faces and voices” in an increasingly artificial media environment.
In a statement marking the 60th World Day of Social Communications, the Archbishop of Armagh reflected on Pope Leo XIV’s annual message, which focuses on artificial intelligence. Archbishop Martin described the Pope’s choice of theme as “courageous”, saying it spoke directly to a world in which technology can imitate faces, clone voices, simulate affection and produce convincing falsehoods.
“At a time when technology can imitate the human face, clone the human voice, simulate affection, produce convincing falsehoods, and shape what people see, think and feel, we must ask ourselves whether our communication is truly recognising, protecting and serving the human person,” Archbishop Martin said.
He said the heart of Pope Leo’s message was that “every human being has a face and a voice”. Before a person is regarded as a profile, statistic, screen-name, consumer, complainant or “case”, he said, he or she is someone created in the image and likeness of God.
“Their face and voice matter,” he said.
Archbishop Martin, who chairs the Council for Communications of the Irish Catholic Bishops’ Conference, said the Christian response to new technology must begin with a deeper question about the nature of the human person and the meaning of communication.
“A person is not just an isolated individual,” he said. “A person is someone who stands before us, someone to be recognised, someone whose dignity must be honoured.”
He linked this understanding of communication to the Incarnation, saying that in Jesus Christ “God has shown us His face” and that “the Word became flesh”. God, he said, did not communicate from a distance but came among humanity “with a human voice, a human face and a human heart”.
For that reason, Archbishop Martin said, Catholics should not ask only whether communication is efficient. In families, schools, parishes, public life and online spaces, the deeper question is whether people are being recognised.
“Are we listening to real voices? Are we protecting real faces? Are we speaking truthfully?” he asked. “Are we allowing technology to serve communion, or are we letting it replace encounter?”
He acknowledged that artificial intelligence and digital technologies can be useful, including in communication, learning, creativity and access to knowledge. But he said the Christian test of technology goes beyond what it can do.
Catholics, he said, should ask whether technology helps people become more human, serves truth, protects the vulnerable, honours personal dignity and deepens communion, rather than increasing isolation.
“The Church must always seek to preserve the faces of those who are easily hidden, edited out, mocked, exploited or forgotten,” Archbishop Martin said. “The face of the poor. The face of the refugee. The face of the abused. The face of the lonely young person. The face of the elderly person in a room with no visitors. The face of Christ in the suffering human person.”
He said Pope Leo’s message invites believers to look “truthfully and tenderly” at the real person before them in a digital world of manipulated images and artificial faces.
Archbishop Martin also warned against surrendering the human capacity for thought, judgement and discernment. Artificial intelligence, he said, can produce polished answers, while algorithms can feed people material that holds their attention and social media can reward anger, speed and reaction. None of these, he said, can replace conscience, wisdom or “the slow work of truth”.
This, he said, has particular importance for families, schools, parishes and public life. Christians cannot simply ask what is trending, what everyone is saying or what a machine tells them.
“A Christian must ask: is it true? Is it just? Is it loving? Does it honour the person made in God’s image? Does it lead me towards Christ or away from him?” he said.
Archbishop Martin invited Catholics to use the World Day of Social Communications as an opportunity to examine their habits of speech and digital engagement. Families, he said, should help children and young people use technology without losing real conversation. Schools should teach discernment, media literacy and respect for truth. Parishes should ensure that communication is personal and hospitable, not merely administrative, and should use digital tools to lead people towards Christ. Public life, he said, must resist disinformation, manipulation and the dehumanisation of opponents.
He also referred to St Carlo Acutis, saying the young saint saw technology as a path to encounter. Technology becomes dangerous, the archbishop said, when it becomes a substitute for real presence, real friendship and real communion.
“Technology is at its best when it helps us to see Christ more clearly, and to love one another more deeply,” Archbishop Martin said.
The Irish bishops have made family and parish resources available through the homepage of CatholicBishops.ie to help Catholics reflect on this year’s World Day of Social Communications.