Toronto, June 26, 2026
Photo: billmuehlenberg.com
Orthodox and Catholic bishops meeting in Toronto have called for technological development to serve the common good rather than efficiency or profit, stating that artificial intelligence can never substitute for genuine human relationships, moral discernment, or spiritual life.
The meeting, held June 18–19 at St. Augustine’s Seminary, brought together members of the Orthodox-Catholic Bishops’ Dialogue Commission in Canada, representing the Canadian Conference of Orthodox Bishops and the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops, reports the Romanian Orthodox Diocese of Canada.
The Conference of Orthodox Bishops was represented by His Grace Bishop Ioan Casian of the Romanian Church and Metropolitan Ilarion of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of Canada (Patriarchate of Constantinople).
The primary discussion document was Magnifica Humanitas, a recent encyclical by Pope Leo XIV on safeguarding the human person in the age of AI, considered alongside several Orthodox responses to the text.
Participants raised concerns about the speed with which AI generates results, the tendency to treat its outputs as objective, and the risk that over-reliance on AI could weaken personal encounters and contribute to social isolation. A presentation by Dr. Lucas Vivas examined AI’s growing role in medicine, cautioning against reducing healthcare to technical efficiency and stressing that compassion, attentive listening, and trust remain irreplaceable.
The bishops also warned against the concentration of technological power among a small number of corporations and pushed back against transhumanist movements that seek to overcome human limitations through technology, reaffirming the Christian vision of humanity grounded in the mystery of the Incarnation. They insisted that accountability for AI-influenced decisions must remain firmly in human hands.
The dialogue concluded with a call for renewed investment in education, ethical reflection, and human formation in an increasingly digital world.
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