Pope Leo XIV Tells Priests: Dont Use AI to Write Homilies
Pope Leo XIV has a message for priests tempted to let artificial intelligence do their sermon writing: put down the keyboard and pick up your brain.
In a closed-door dialogue with priests from the Diocese of Rome on February 19, the Pope urged them to resist "the temptation to prepare homilies with artificial intelligence."
The reasoning? Like all muscles in the body, the brain needs exercise.
"Just as all the muscles in the body die if we do not use them, if we do not move them, the brain needs to be used, so our intelligence, your intelligence, needs to be exercised a little so as not to lose this ability," the Pope said, according to Vatican News.
But there is a deeper reason. "To give a true homily is to share faith," the Pope added. "AI will never be able to share the faith."
The TikTok Warning
The Pope did not stop at AI-generated sermons. He also warned priests against seeking validation on social media platforms like TikTok.
"It is an illusion on the internet, on TikTok, to think one is offering oneself and gaining likes and followers in that way," he said. "It is not you: if we are not transmitting the message of Jesus Christ, perhaps we are mistaken."
The message is part of a broader concern about digital isolation, particularly among young people. The Pope noted that many young people "live in isolation, in incredible loneliness" — a problem he connected to smartphone use following the pandemic.
A Pattern of Tech Skepticism
This is not the first time Pope Leo XIV has addressed technology. Shortly after his election last May, he told the College of Cardinals he took his name from Pope Leo XIII, who wrote the seminal social encyclical Rerum Novarum during the first industrial revolution.
The comparison is deliberate. Just as the Church grappled with the disruptions of the industrial age, Pope Leo XIV appears positioning himself to address the challenges of the AI age.
He has signaled a forthcoming encyclical on AI ethics, tentatively slated for early 2026. A 2025 poll found 68% of Catholics support Vatican-led guidelines on AI.
The Bigger Picture
The Pope warnings land as AI-generated content floods the internet — including fake sermons attributed to the Pope himself. AFP fact-checkers have documented AI-generated Pope Leo XIV videos spreading on YouTube and TikTok, featuring fabricated warnings the pontiff never actually delivered.
In that context, the Pope message to priests carries extra weight: if even his own image can be deepfaked, what hope does a parish priest have of offering something authentic through AI?
The message is clear: technology can assist, but it cannot substitute for genuine human connection, lived faith, and the messy, irreplaceable work of thinking for yourself.