The Vatican & The Pope

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Vatican defends secrecy in sensitive abuse case involving ex-Jesuit artist Marko Rupnik The Vatican has confirmed that a church trial against a famous ex-Jesuit priest accused of spiritual and sexual abuse of women is ongoing and defended the secrecy of the proceeding as necessary. An Italian blog had reported that an acquittal verdict was reached in the case against the Rev. Marko Ivan Rupnik, a Slovenian artist whose mosaic designs decorate Vatican chapels and churches around the world. The Vatican press office said the report was “totally unfounded.” Read more.

Why this matters: The Rupnik scandal exploded publicly in 2022, when Italian blogs first reported claims by women and nuns of sexual, spiritual and psychological abuse by Rupnik dating back to the 1990s that had been consistently dismissed by the Catholic hierarchy.   Amid the #MeToo reckoning about adult sexual abuse in the church, the Rupnik case has become one of the most sensitive matters for the Holy See. There have been suggestions that Rupnik was protected for decades by his Jesuit superiors and the Vatican hierarchy, up to and including the Jesuit Pope Francis.   The Jesuits expelled Rupnik from their order in 2023 and Francis, under pressure because of suggestions he had protected the priest, waived the statute of limitations on the older claims so that the Vatican could open a proper canonical trial.

RELATED COVERAGE ➤ Woman who says she was abused spiritually and sexually by a once-famous Jesuit demands transparency Vatican law criminalizes abuse of adults by priests, laity  Supporter defends expelled Jesuit priest against ‘lynching’, says abuse claims unproven

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Pope Leo XIV will visit Uruguay, Argentina and Peru in his first Latin American trip as pontiff

VATICAN CITY (AP) — Pope Leo XIV will make his first trip to Latin America as pontiff in November, returning to a region where he spent much of his ministry, with visits to Uruguay, Argentina and Peru, the Vatican announced Wednesday.

https://apnews.com/article/vatican-pope-leo-peru-argentina-uruguay-latin-701f20187f230f504f15a2b2fb52a89b?

Pope Leo to meet with clergy abuse survivors during upcoming trip to France

MILAN (AP) — Pope Leo XIV will meet with survivors of clergy abuse during a four-day trip to France next month that will include a visit to UNESCO headquarters, a meeting with French bishops in Lourdes and an interreligious meeting in the border city of Metz, the Vatican announced on Friday.

https://apnews.com/article/pope-visit-france-clergy-abuse-a633186bd81f411119cf2060c7c40a65?

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Pope warns a ‘paradise of machines’ could undermine humanity as he opens France trip

PARIS (AP) — Pope Leo XIV warned Friday that a “paradise of machines” risked undermining humanity as he opened a trip to France by posing fundamental questions about what it means to be human in the age of artificial intelligence, a nuclear arms race and other threats to life itself.

https://apnews.com/article/pope-france-macron-94939e325c39d0b34cc942a189c039a7?

🤖 Pope Leo XIV warned today that a "paradise of machines" risked undermining humanity, as he opened a trip to France by posing fundamental questions about what it means to be human in the AI age. Go deeper.

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Pope Leo seeks status update of Francis’ divisive opening to divorced and remarried Catholics

VATICAN CITY (AP) — Ten years after Pope Francis sent shock waves through the Catholic Church with his outreach to divorced and civilly remarried Catholics, Pope Leo XIV is inviting church leaders to Rome next week to understand how Francis’ document has been implemented.

https://apnews.com/article/pope-divorce-francis-heresy-809dc35f7389807e3340883257759f87?

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Pope: Algorithms lack "spark of humanity"

Illustration: Brendan Lynch/Axios Pope Leo XIV is calling for the Catholic Church to work with artists to protect human creativity amid a glut of AI-generated content, Axios' Herb Scribner reports. 🤳 Leo wrote on X: "In this era of artificial intelligence, it is becoming urgent to distinguish human art from what machines produce." "There is an ontological difference, even before an aesthetic one, between art and what a machine can generate through statistical calculation based on millions of images created by others." "Algorithms lack the spark of humanity." 🤖 Leo has spoken out about AI and its influence on humanity before. In the first encyclical of his papacy, he said there was a need to "disarm" the technology to prevent it "from dominating humanity." He approved the creation of an AI commission in May to coordinate the church's policies and work around the emerging technology. Recently, Leo warned of a "paradise of machines" invading and taking over our daily activities. He also said that warnings from AI researchers should be "taken seriously." He told reporters on Monday: "We have to keep working. We can't just sit back and pretend nothing is going to happen." Go deeper.