ITEST Webinars

Scientific research should be guided by virtues of compassion, justice, and human dignity. That influence must avoid biasing the interpretation of experimental studies but may impact recommendations and policy. Two recent examples of gross distortion of this collaboration in pediatric medicine have been puberty blockers (2012-2024) and vaccine policy (2025-26).


Kevin Powell, M.D., Ph.D.

Fides et Ratio: When Ideology Distorts Science and Medicine


Kevin Powell, M.D. Ph.D. FAAP, is a retired pediatrician who specialized in the care of hospitalized children. Prior to medical school he worked as a chemical engineer in industry and academia, earning a Ph.D. in Medical Engineering from a joint program of Harvard Medical School and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Alongside clinical care, for 18 years he served on or chaired hospital ethics committees and was a clinical ethics consultant. His last academic position was on faculty at Saint Louis University and Cardinal Glennon Children’s Hospital. He is Lutheran.


Abstract


Scientific research should be guided by virtues of compassion, justice, and human dignity. That influence must avoid biasing the interpretation of experimental studies but may impact recommendations and policy. Two recent examples of gross distortion of this collaboration in pediatric medicine have been puberty blockers (2012-2024) and vaccine policy (2025-26).



Francis Etheredge

What good is God seeking to draw out of the present crises?


Francis Etheredge is a Catholic married layman, with eleven children, three of whom he hopes are in heaven and the rest of whom are alive and well and stepping through life’s stages of school, university, and career. In the last ten years, he has returned to being a self-employed writer. Find some of his books listed in the resources section below.


Abstract


Already the Second Vatican Council, in 1962-1965, was laying the foundation of human identity, both philosophically and theologically. Simultaneously, in the life and work of St. John Paul II, we see that certain themes had come to the fore, namely the contrast between “use” and “love”; the existence from the beginning of man, male and female, called to communion in marriage and to various other forms of collaboration; and, more widely, but equally just as relevant, each man and woman is called to discover being loved by Jesus Christ and invited into a relationship to His Church.In view of this background of “relationship”, as it were, we can see that there are many forms of relationship-denial, beginning with contraception and abortion; and, because of these, the manipulation of the human person proceeds apace – both in terms of dividing the human being into a self which does accept itself as a gift, whole and entire, and the proliferation of “relationship-less” contacts with others.Hence the need to reflect further on the human person.

The Institute for Theological Encounter with Science and Technology (ITEST) presents a webinar entitled Revisiting “Computers, Artificial Intelligence, and Virtual Reality” in Light of Pope Leo XIV’s Magnifica Humanitas. Four of the presenters at the 2005 conference return to talk about AI and Virtual Reality 21 years later.

Ronald P. Loui, Ph.D. - Adjunct Full Professor of Computer and Data Science, Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland Professor Loui has worked on AI (including philosophical and legal aspects) for four decades and has contributed practical programming and design to innovative systems. His degrees are from Harvard and Rochester, with a postdoc at Stanford Cognitive Science. Using biostatistics and medical records interpretations he has recently produced a new timeline for Genesis patriarchs as Balikh-Khabur West Semites (MarTu/Amorites from Gudea to Ur-III, later an immigrant minority under Hyksos Avaris) that is consistent with archaeological data, linguistics, onomastics and theophorics, theological and geopolitical history, climatology, geology, anthropology, biology, and multiple textual sources. This academic work achieves historicity in exchange for mathematical normalization and correlation. He has done consulting work for intelligence agencies, the US Defense Department advanced labs, Cycorp, and the Cleveland Clinic, co-authoring with NSA, State Department, and DARPA researchers. His most recent invention is the Colvin Diagram that audits AI predictions for trustworthiness and illuminates causality issues.

Kevin Vallier, Ph.D. - Professor of Philosophy at the Institute of American Constitutional Thought and Leadership at the University of Toledo Dr. Kevin Vallier is a political philosopher specializing in trust, polarization, and the foundations of liberal democracy in deeply diverse societies. His research integrates normative political philosophy with empirical social science to understand how open societies sustain cooperation across moral and religious differences. He is a Professor of Philosophy and Director of Research at the Institute for American Constitutional Thought and Leadership (University of Toledo). He completed his PhD at the University of Arizona in 2011 under Gerald Gaus.

Gregory Beabout, Ph.D. - Romano Guardini Chair in Catholic Thought and Culture, Professor, Department of Philosophy Greg Beabout is Romano Guardini Chair in Catholic Thought and Culture and Professor in the Department of Philosophy at St. Louis University. He teaches and does research in ethics and social philosophy, the history of philosophy, personalism, Kierkegaard, and Catholic social thought. His work applies personalism and virtue ethics to business and the professions. In 2025–26, he organized SLU’s Pope Leo Series on AI and the Social Teaching of the Church. His books include Virtue Ethics in Business and Management, Ethics: The Art of Character, Freedom and Its Misuses, and The Character of the Manager. His current book project and accompanying documentary film are titled Sacred Signs: The Whooping Cranes of Kaskaskia.

Sr. Carla Mae Streeter, OP, Th.D., Professor Emerita of Systematic Theology and Spirituality at Aquinas Institute of Theology Sister Carla Mae Streeter, O.P., Th.D. completed doctoral studies with the Canadian Jesuits at Regis College at the University of Toronto School of Theology in 1986. She was co-recipient of the first Jean-Marc Laporte Scholarship Award for academic excellence, and the first woman to complete a theological doctorate at Regis College. She is the author of Foundations of Spirituality: The Human and the Holy, Seasons of the Soul: An Intimate God in Liturgical Time, and co-author of Avoiding the Sin of Certitude. She has served on the Board of Interfaith Partnership of Metropolitan St. Louis and on the Board of ITEST, the Institute for Theological Encounter with Science and Technology. Carla Mae is also the former Convener and Executive Director of Compassionate Saint Louis, a global movement that is active in several United States cities, and about 500 cities globally.

Webinar abstract


Dr. Rouhana will present on eight arguments for “Gender Dysphoria” as a mental disorder along with some aspects of the theological problems.Dr. Hruz will present on clinical aspects, “treatment” fallacies, and dangers, with reference to the complementarity of faith and science in addressing “gender dysphoria.”




Our presenters




Stephen Rouhana, Ph.D.

Gender Dysphoria – Lessons from Science and Faith


Dr. Stephen Rouhana is a husband, father, and grandfather with a Ph.D. in physics. He worked for 17 years at General Motors Research Labs and 15 years at Ford’s Scientific Research Labs, trying to save lives in automotive crashes. He authored or co-authored 82 technical publications, 3 book chapters, and 18 U.S. patents, and 7 international patents. Among other awards, he’s received the U.S. Government Award for Safety Engineering Excellence, the Award of Merit from the Association for the Advancement of Automotive Medicine, and is a Fellow of Society of Automotive Engineers and a Fellow of the American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering.As a young Catholic, he felt called to serve God. Near the end of his career in research, that calling led him to Sacred Heart Major Seminary for a master’s degree in Pastoral Studies. In December 2014, he retired to concentrate on serving in ministries within the Catholic Church. He has authored two books: “A Rosary for Religious and Restless Minds – The Structured Contemplative Rosary,” and “The King and Queen are Naked: Establishment Failures based on Scientific, Medical, and Psychiatric Research on ‘Gender Dysphoria,’” both published by En Route Books and Media. He currently serves in many ministries and is a faculty member of the Catholic Biblical School Ministry.


Abstract


This presentation is derived from my book titled, “The King and Queen are Naked – Establishment Failures based on Scientific, Medical, and Psychiatric Research on ‘Gender Dysphoria’.” The term “Gender Dysphoria” was created by a small group of psychiatrists in the American Psychiatric Association (APA). It is currently used in reference to people who experience confusion about their own gender and is part of the APA’s clinical reference guide known as the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Psychiatric Disorders (aka the ‘DSM’). The APA asserts that experiencing feelings of living in a body of the wrong gender is not a mental disorder. Instead, they claim that distress caused by those feelings is what is disordered.In the presentation, I share the results of a scientific analysis of over 275 journal articles on “Gender Dysphoria.” The analysis leads to the conclusion that the feeling that one is living in a body of the wrong gender is a mental disorder. The presentation will go through the eight arguments for that conclusion and will show how the APA has ignored their own definition of a mental disorder in an effort to mislead the public and to ensure continued funding for gender-affirming care by insurance companies.The presentation also addresses how faith enters into the equation of “Gender Dysphoria.” An analysis of Church teaching from sacred scripture, magisterial documents, and understanding of moral theology are all brough to bear on the topic. A response for Catholics, individually and corporately, is proposed.



Paul Hruz, M.D., Ph.D.

Scientific Fact and Fallacy in the Evidence Base for Medical Management of Sex Discordant Gender Identification


Paul Hruz is a Pediatric Endocrinologist and Physician-Scientist. He currently holds academic appointments as an Associate Professor of Pediatrics and Associate Professor of Cellular Biology and Physiology. Dr. Hruz received his Bachelor’s Degree in Chemistry from Marquette University. He received his M.D. Degree and Ph.D. in biochemistry from the Medical College of Wisconsin. He completed Residency training in Pediatrics at the University of Washington in Seattle and a Pediatric Endocrinology fellowship at Washington University. Hruz served at the Chief of the Division of Pediatric Endocrinology and Diabetes at Washington University from 2012-2017. In his laboratory-based research career, he has contributed to improvements in the treatment of people with HIV infection. For the past decade, he has presented scientific evidence related to the medical care of children with gender dysphoria to a variety of audiences both nationally and internationally. Dr. Hruz is board certified in Pediatrics and Pediatric Endocrinology. He has also received certification in Healthcare Ethics from the National Catholic Bioethics Center. Dr. Hruz. has authored over 60 peer-reviewed manuscripts, scientific reviews and book chapters. Most importantly, together with his wife Anne, he has raised five children in St. Louis.


Abstract


In this presentation, Dr. Hruz will discuss ongoing scientific controversy in the rapidly expanding field of “gender medicine” with specific attention to serious deficiencies in the evidence base for the gender affirmation model. Individuals who experience sex-discordant gender identification frequently seek medical care to address significant psychosocial morbidities. As in all areas of medicine, healthcare professionals have a moral duty to utilize the foundational ethical principles of beneficence and nonmaleficence with the goals of alleviating suffering and restoring health. Achievement of these aims is facilitated by a firm understanding of the meaning of health, discovery and application of scientific evidence regarding disease pathogenesis, and objective assessment of the relative risks versus benefit of any proposed intervention. Well-established understanding of the role of sex-steroid hormones on growth, metabolism, bone health, and neuro-cognitive development together with emerging data on adverse effects of intentionally inducing the pathologic state of hypogonadotropic hypogonadism will be exposed. Known and unknown effects on psychological health will also be considered. Finally, a framework for conducting ethical controlled clinical studies on psychological intervention based upon anthropologically sound scientific premises will be proposed.

The New Genetic Medicine: Miraculous Cures, Ethically Challenging Advances, or Both?

This webinar was presented on April 18, 2026

Our presenters

Fr. Kevin FitzGerald, SJ, PhD, PhD
The New Genetic Medicine: Miraculous Cures, Ethically Challenging Advances, or Both?

Kevin T. FitzGerald, S.J., Ph.D., Ph.D., is the John A. Creighton University Professor and chair of the Department of Medical Humanities in the School of Medicine, at Creighton University. He received a Ph.D. in molecular genetics, and a Ph.D. in bioethics, from Georgetown University. His research efforts focus on the utilization of the Humanities in medical education, on the investigation of abnormal gene expression in cancer, and on ethical issues in biomedical research and medical genomics. He has published educational, scientific, and ethical articles in peer-reviewed journals, books, and in the popular press.Fr. FitzGerald has given presentations nationally and internationally, and has often been interviewed by the news media, on such topics as human genetic engineering, cloning, stem cell research, and personalized medicine. He is a founding member of Do No Harm, and a member of the Genetic Alliance IRB. In addition, he has been a Corresponding Member of the Pontifical Academy for Life since 2005.

Abstract

This webinar explores the rapidly evolving field of genetic medicine, examining its promise of life-altering cures alongside the profound ethical questions it raises. Fr. Kevin FitzGerald, SJ, of the Creighton Institute brings theological, medical, and moral insight to discern whether these advances represent unqualified progress, serious concern, or a call to careful ethical stewardship.

Fr. Dennis Billy, CSsR
Navigating the Murky Waters of the New Genetic Medicine


Rev. Dennis J. Billy, C.Ss.R. is Professor Emeritus of the Alphonsian Academy of Rome’s Pontifical Lateran University. From 2019-2025, he served as Professor and holder of The Robert F. Leavitt Distinguished Service Chair in Theology at St. Mary’s Seminary & University in Baltimore, Maryland. From 2008-2016, he was scholar-in-residence, professor, and holder of the John Cardinal Krol Chair of Moral Theology at St. Charles Borromeo Seminary, Overbrook in Wynnewood, Pennsylvania. Fr. Billy holds advanced degrees from Harvard University, The Pontifical University of St. Thomas (Angelicum, Rome), and the Graduate Theological Foundation. Father Billy has authored more than 65 books and published over 400 articles in a variety of scholarly and popular journals. He is also very active in retreat work and in the ministry of spiritual direction.

Abstract

This presentation will look at the various areas of genetic medicine: those compatible and those not with Catholic teaching. It will go on to explore the liabilities of utilitarianism, deontology, and even virtue ethics when applied to genetic medicine, and then explore how Catholic ethical principles such as the dignity of the human person, natural law, totality, social justice, cooperation with evil, double effect, and scandal, can help Catholic institutions and medical personnel to navigate the turbulent ethical waters that genetic medicine presents to them both now and in the future. It will conclude by presenting a theonomous ethics coupled with rigorous case study by Catholic ethicists as a way of finding answers to the tension between autonomy and heteronomy, as well as a reminder that true justice must reach a common, universal understanding of rationality that embraces a sound Christian anthropology, the inherent dignity of all human life, and the common good for all human society.

The New Genetic Medicine: Miraculous Cures, Ethically Challenging Advances, or Both? - Institute for Theological Encounter with Science and Technology

Robert Kurland, Ph.D.
Can AI Have a Soul? What Science Fiction Says

Dr. Robert Kurland, a convert to Catholicism in 1995, is a retired physicist who has applied magnetic resonance to problems of biological interest in his research (web search: “Kurland-McGarvey Equation”). Dr. Kurland is a graduate of Caltech (BS, 1951, “with honor”) and Harvard (PhD, 1956). His scientific career at Carnegie-Mellon, SUNY/AB, Cleveland Clinic, Geisinger Medical Center, has focused on biological applications of magnetic resonance, including MRI. Since his conversion to Catholicism, he has tried to spread the message that there’s no war between Catholic teaching and science.

Abstract

Much before AI tools became available, science fiction stories had shown how it might be manifested in computers, robots, and humanoid androids. As with other Speculative Fiction (Tolkien, C.S. Lewis) one takes the contrapositive beings and situations in such tales not as possible reality, but as parables illustrating the human condition. Three stories will be discussed: 

1. “Deus X” in which human consciousness can be transplanted to computers as life after death
2. “The Measure of a Man—Star Trek, Next Generation,” a trial to determine whether the android Data is more than a machine 
3. “Our Lady of the Artifacts,” a novel in which an android with superhuman capabilities is possessed by a devil

Fr. Robert J. Spitzer, S.J., Ph.D.
Why AI Can’t Have a Soul: The Transphysical Paradox

For more on Magis AI, see https://wcatradio.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/MagisAI.pdf

Fr. Robert J. Spitzer, S.J., Ph.D. is President of the Magis Center of Reason and Faith (magiscenter.com), one of the largest science, faith, and reason apologetics institutes in the world. He was President of Gonzaga University from 1998 to 2009, where he increased the student body by 75%, oversaw the construction of 20 new facilities, and raised $200+ million for scholarships and buildings. He is the author of nineteen books, including the award-winning books New Proofs for the Existence of God and Science, Reason, and Faith: Discovering the Bible. He has also authored many scholarly articles on faith and science, metaphysics, and happiness and ethics. Father Spitzer has his own weekly EWTN television show called Fr. Spitzer’s Universe. He has appeared on the Larry King Show (in discussion with Stephen Hawking and Deepak Chopra), the History Channel, the Today Show, and a PBS series. He started seven institutes dedicated to faith and reason and happiness/purpose in life. He was a professor at Georgetown University, Seattle University, and Gonzaga University and was awarded the teaching medal at both Georgetown University and Seattle University. He has held two major academic chairs—the Frank Shrontz Endowed Chair in Professional Ethics (Seattle University) and the John L. Aram Chair of Business Ethics (Gonzaga University), and has won multiple academic and professional awards including the DeSmet Medal (Gonzaga University’s highest award), the Aquinas Medal (for Catholic philosophical scholarship), honorary doctorates, Phi Beta Kappa (honorary), and professional society awards.

Abstract

The human soul performs five functions that cannot be reduced to physical processes and structures: (1) Self-consciousness, (2) Abstract intellection through conceptual ideas, (3) Conscience and moral awareness, (4) Transcendental awareness, and (5) Spiritual-numinous awareness. Since AI is reducible, and will always be reducible to physical processes and structures, AI will not replace a human soul – or be like a human soul.

In this webinar sponsored by the Institute for Theological Encounter with Science and Technology, Randal Mandock and Francis Etheredge present on Why the Unborn Matter. 

Our presenters

Randal Mandock, PhD
A Rational Case for Life 

Dr. Randal Mandock balanced careers in science and religious education. With a Ph.D. from Georgia Tech, he worked as a geophysicist, professor, and researcher. Simultaneously, he served over 40 years as a Catholic catechist and apologist. A U.S. Marine Corps veteran, he remains active in parish ministry and faith formation. Abstract As a free agent (i.e., not officially representing any Church, ecclesial body, or religion), I choose to propose a method of revising definitions and terminology in the area of human pregnancy. I believe the changes inspired by this method will better serve the pro-life cause than the continued adoption of and acquiescence to popular notions about certain definitions and terminology used in popular accounts. My only authority in proposing these changes rests on reason and a desire to assist medical personnel, lawyers, judges, legislators, and the devoutly religious to better position themselves to defend mothers and their unborn children. It is evident that the Magisterium of the Catholic Church has charted for two millennia a masterful path between authority and reason in pursuit of expanding the Kingdom of God on earth. This is evident very recently in its recognition, once again, of the virtue of prudence in assessment of the start of an individual person’s life.

Francis Etheredge
The Catholic Faith’s Contribution to Understanding the Moment of Human Conception

Francis Etheredge is a Catholic married layman, with eleven children, three of whom he hopes are in heaven and the rest of whom are alive and well and stepping through life’s stages of school, university, and career. In the last ten years, he has returned to being a self-employed writer. Find some of his books listed in the resources section below. Abstract On the one hand it would seem that Faith has no contribution to make to an investigation of the beginning of human personhood in that it is a matter of what embryologists can discover, although embryologists do not necessarily recognize that the beginning of the human person transcends the biological action of sperm and egg-cell. On the other hand, then, while Scripture is ordered to our salvation in Christ, we cannot overlook that the question of conception is not without salvific significance. Thus the Scripture speaks of conception, while the dogma of the Immaculate Conception speaks of both the conception of Mary and implicates us. At the same time, the Second Vatican Council, in Gaudium et spes, speaks of both the unity of the human person (14) and the mystery that “For by His incarnation the Son of God has united Himself in some fashion with every man” (22). What, then, are we to make of these contributions to understanding the beginning of human life? https://faithscience.org/why-unborn-matter/

In this webinar hosted by the Institute for Theological Encounter with Science and Technology and the Magis Center, Fr. Robert J. Spitzer introduces the Magis AI app. 

Fr. Robert J. Spitzer, SJ, PhD
Challenges and Opportunities of Artificial Intelligence: The MagisAI App

Fr. Robert J. Spitzer, S.J., Ph.D. is President of the Magis Center of Reason and Faith (magiscenter.com), one of the largest science, faith, and reason apologetics institutes in the world. He was President of Gonzaga University from 1998 to 2009, where he increased the student body by 75%, oversaw the construction of 20 new facilities, and raised $200+ million for scholarships and buildings. He is the author of nineteen books, including the award-winning books New Proofs for the Existence of God and Science, Reason, and Faith: Discovering the Bible. He has also authored many scholarly articles on faith and science, metaphysics, and happiness and ethics.Father Spitzer has his own weekly EWTN television show called Fr. Spitzer’s Universe. He has appeared on the Larry King Show (in discussion with Stephen Hawking and Deepak Chopra), the History Channel, the Today Show, and a PBS series. He started seven institutes dedicated to faith and reason and happiness/purpose in life. He was a professor at Georgetown University, Seattle University, and Gonzaga University and was awarded the teaching medal at both Georgetown University and Seattle University. He has held two major academic chairs—the Frank Shrontz Endowed Chair in Professional Ethics (Seattle University) and the John L. Aram Chair of Business Ethics (Gonzaga University), and has won multiple academic and professional awards including the DeSmet Medal (Gonzaga University’s highest award), the Aquinas Medal (for Catholic philosophical scholarship), honorary doctorates, Phi Beta Kappa (honorary), and professional society awards.

Abstract

Artificial Intelligence, no doubt, presents many challenges – hallucinations, fraud, privacy issues, skewing of truth, and even the “dumbing” of America. Furthermore, there is considerable confusion about whether AI will become sentient, self-conscious, and intelligent. Fr. Spitzer will discuss these challenges and confusing issues, and will then examine the opportunities that AI presents for evangelization, noting specifically his MagisAI App which can help young people to maintain and defend their faith. This App is capable of answering literally thousands of questions about the confluence between science, reason, faith, scripture, and morality for a modern secular audience. With rapid distribution, it could become a premiere tool of evangelization for Christianity and the Catholic Church.

Thomas P. Sheahen, PhD
AI Comprehension: Sure Things, No-Chance Topics, and Maybes

Dr. Thomas P. Sheahen, director emeritus of ITEST, earned BS and PhD degrees in physics from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. During his 45-year career as a research physicist, predominantly in energy sciences, he worked for various industrial and national laboratories. In the 1990s, Sheahen wrote the textbook Introduction to High-Temperature Superconductivity. More recently, he wrote the book Everywhen: God, Symmetry and Time, which stands at the intersection of faith and science, and explains how mankind’s limited capabilities have led to a deficient and weak perception of God.

Abstract

Artificial Intelligence is rapidly improving and expanding into many fields, and the AI App of the Magis Center is part of that. As a search-aide to locating information about the Catholic Church, especially for persons conflicted about the alleged struggle between faith and science, it will be hard to beat. But creative thinking and the transcendental characteristics that make us truly humans won’t fit into even very advanced machine learning. The question is about where the boundary (however foggy and ill-defined) lies. Can we expect to reach an asymptotic limit of AI content? Will AI no longer be helpful beyond some level? This presentation explores some parameters of such uncertainties.

Christopher M. Reilly, ThD
AI as a Medium for Truth

Christopher Reilly, Th.D. is editor of the journal for ITEST and a board member. He writes and speaks about a Christian response to technology, bioethics, moral theology, and philosophy, and is author of the book AI and Sin: How Today’s Technology Motivates Evil.     
Abstract

MagisAI is an extraordinary vehicle for teaching the Christian truth. AI, however, poses broader challenges to our understanding and expression of truth. How can we best meet these challenges with the help of such tools?

The Holy See and the United Nations: The International Conference on Population and Development (Cairo, 1994) as a Case Study

Presenters:

Jane Adolphe, LLB/BCL/JCL/JCD 

Dr. Jane F. Adolphe is a professor of law at Ave Maria School of Law in Naples, Florida (2001-present), with degrees in common law, civil law (LLB/BCL), and canon law (JCL/JCD). She is also a lawyer qualified to practice law in Alberta, Canada and New York, USA, with an expertise in international human rights law and the Holy See. She is a former external advisor (2002-2011) and internal advisor (2011-2020) to three Popes: John Paul II, Benedict XVI and Francis through her work with the Papal Secretariat of State, Section for Relations with States. Jane is Founder and Executive Director of the International Catholic Jurists Forum.


Abstract


Professor Adolphe will discuss the nature and mission of the Holy See within the international community and its status within the United Nations Organization (UN), with an overview of the Holy See’s role during the 1990’s when the UN launched a series of international conferences that form the basis of the current UN document: Transforming our world: the 2030 Agenda for Sustainability Goals, and the Holy See’s extensive reservations to the same.  



John Klink, M.A.

Former Papal Diplomat and Chief Negotiator for the Holy See over UN World Summits in mid-1990s Gift of Divine Providence: My Role as a Papal Diplomat under Saint John Paul II


John Klink holds a BA from Santa Clara University and an MA from Georgetown University in English Literature. John was an executive with Catholic Relief Services serving in underdeveloped countries in North Africa, the Middle East, and Asia. He was recruited by the Vatican, and subsequently the White House, to serve as a diplomat/negotiator for scores of United Nations World Summits and Conferences during the critical period of the fall of the Soviet Union and the rise of the European Union. He became an advisor to Popes and Presidents, was elected President of the International Catholic Migration Commission, and with his wife Patricia began a sovereign securities firm on Wall Street.His distinctive honors include Knight Commander of the Order of St. Gregory the Great, Knight of the Sovereign Military Order of Malta, Knight of the Equestrian Order of the Holy Sepulchre of Jerusalem, Knight of the Sacred Military Constantinian Order of St. George, Knight of Columbus (3rd Degree), and a Knight of Sts. Maurice and Lazarus. Royal Thai Armed Forces Award for Humanitarian Assistance to Displaced Persons in Thailand; 41st CRS Anniversary Award for Humanitarian Assistance; Legatus Ambassador Award.


Abstract


The Population World Battle of Cairo

While the Holy See’s Mission to the United Nations observer status normally precludes its active participation in member state negotiations, the creation in the 1990s of UN world conferences/summits allowed for the Holy See’s delegations to participate as Conference state members. Thus, when a gauntlet was thrown by the draft document for the Cairo Population Conference of 1994 prepared by the Secretariat of the infamously “progressive” UN Population Fund and the nomination of its Director, Dr. Nafis Sadik as the President of the Cairo Conference, the Holy See actively intervened. Pope St. John Paul II, who providentially had taken the time to read the draft document, confronted Dr. Sadik at her private Papal audience, and he issued a clarion call to his fellow heads of state to be aware of the dangers to humanity that lurked in the Cairo draft declaration pages. In my remarks, I will recount some of the background history of how John Paul’s inspiration led to the blocking of attempts by the “progressive” governments of the US and EU to create an international right to abortion.

In this episode of I Thought You'd Like to Know This, Too, ITEST presents a webinarentitled  "Bioethics & AI as Human Flourishing: Where Catholic & Orthodox Social Teaching meet in One Christian Social Ethos" (June 14, 2025)

Dr. Constantine Psimopoulos

BIOETHICS AND AI AS HUMAN FLOURISHING: WHERE CATHOLICS AND ORTHODOX MEET IN ONE CHRISTIAN SOCIAL ETHOS

Constantine Psimopoulos is a Professor (Adj.) of Bioethics at Hellenic College Holy Cross Greek Orthodox School of Theology, teaching Christian Ethics and Social Ministries and is on the faculty at Harvard’s Initiative on Health, Spirituality and Religion, of which he is also Senior Program Administrator, and the Human Flourishing program. He has another Academic research appointment in Global Health and Social Medicine and the Center for Bioethics at Harvard Medical School. At Harvard, he co-teaches the course Religion and Public Health and a new required module taught to all MD/PhD students. Constantine serves as the Director of the Division of Bioethics of the Orthodox Academy of Crete (Ecumenical Patriarchate), and as an Invited Member to the Inaugural National Committee on AI – Artificial Intelligence (and Theology) of the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America.

Abstract

This presentation draws a comparison between Catholic social teaching and the Social ethos of the Orthodox church. Both traditions have some parallels in the way they approach AI, from a bioethical perspective that addresses social justice. The document ‘For the Life of the World’ (F.L.O.W.) of our Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople, emphasizes that science and technology are a wonderful product of a God-given human creativity, and that “the desire for scientific knowledge flows from the same wellspring as faith’s longing to enter ever more deeply into the mystery of God.” It is an imperative to use AI for Human Flourishing. From a Christian bioethical lens, science and technology, and in particular Artificial Intelligence (AI), can serve as one concrete example of how this can be addressed.

Fr. Michael Baggot, LC

Programming with Purpose: Guiding AI through Catholic Social Teaching

Fr. Michael Baggot is Legionary of Christ, an Associate Professor of Bioethics at the Pontifical Athenaeum Regina Apostolorum, and an Invited Professor of Theology at the Pontifical University of St. Thomas Aquinas (the Angelicum) and the Catholic Institute of Technology (CatholicTech). He also serves as a professor for the Joint Diploma in Leadership: Service through Virtues and the Catholic Worldview Fellowship summer program. In addition, Fr. Michael is a Research Scholar at the UNESCO Chair in Bioethics and Human Rights and a member of the Scholarly Advisory Board for Magisterium AI. He is also a fellow of the Fr. James L. Heft, SM Generations in Dialogue program at the Institute for Advanced Catholic Studies at the University of Southern California.

Abstract

As an expert in humanity, the Catholic Church is deeply interested in the AI technologies that are shaping family life, education, medicine, religious practice, and other key aspects of social life. The presentation draws on the social doctrine of the Catholic Church to highlight the virtues and social structures most conducive to using AI tools to promote human flourishing. It gives special attention to the influence of AI companion systems on the loneliness epidemic and the quest for social connections. The conference also examines the significance of ecumenical dialogue, interreligious dialogue, and dialogue with secular traditions in addressing the perennial philosophical questions that emerging technologies raise.

Bioethics and AI as Human Flourishing: Where Catholic and Orthodox Social Teaching meet in One Christian Social Ethos - Institute for Theological Encounter with Science and Technology

In this webinar entitled AI and Sin: Medieval Robots and the Theology of Technology, hosted by the Institute for Theological Encounter with Science and Technology, Dr. Chris Reilly and Dr. Jordan Joseph Wales offer their insights into the promises and challenges of Artificial Intelligence. (April 5, 2025)

Christopher M. Reilly, ThD


AI and Sin: How Today’s Technology Motivates Evil


Christopher M. Reilly writes and speaks in regard to a Christian response to advanced technology, and he has written numerous articles on bioethics and moral theology and philosophy. Chris holds a doctor of theology degree and three masters degrees in philosophy, theology, and public affairs. He resides in the greater Washington, DC region. His website is ChristopherMReilly.com. Chris is Associate Director of ITEST.


Abstract


Artificial intelligence technology (AI) motivates persons’ engagement in sin. With this startling argument drawn from Catholic theology and technological insight, Christopher M. Reilly, Th.D. takes on both critics and proponents of AI who see it as essentially a neutral tool that can be used with good or bad intentions. More specifically, Reilly demonstrates that AI strongly encourages the vice of instrumental rationality, which in turn leads the developers, producers, and users of AI and its machines toward acedia, one of the “seven deadly sins.”



Jordan Joseph Wales, PhD


Response: Medieval Robots and the ​Theology of Technology


Jordan Wales is the Kuczmarski Professor of Theology at Hillsdale College. With degrees in engineering, cognitive science, and theology, his scholarship focuses on early Christianity as well as contemporary theological questions relating to artificial intelligence. He is a member of the AI Research Group for the Holy See’s Centre for Digital Culture, under the Dicastery for Culture and Education; a fellow of the Centre for Humanity and the Common Good; and a fellow of the International Society for Science and Religion.


Abstract


Medieval theologians and storytellers grappled with humankind’s tendency to confine our aims to what a technology can represent rather than to situate that technology within the wider horizon of the human journey to God. Responding to Dr. Reilly, I draw on legends of robots that illustrate a theological approach to AI as a perilous but also potent instrument mediating between human volition and our natural and social environment. In their diverging outcomes, these texts suggest paths toward a more humane positioning of AI within our lives.




Webinar resources


Chris Reilly’s Resources

Radio interview on Relevant Radio, Trending with Timmerie: https://www.spreaker.com/episode/ai-reason-acedia–64575876
Book – AI and Sin: How Today’s Technologies Motivate Evil: https://enroutebooksandmedia.com/aiandsin/
Chris Reilly’s website: https://christophermreilly.com/

Chapter – “Seven Christian Principles for Thriving with Artificial Intelligence”: https://static1.squarespace.com/static/5e3ada1a6a2e8d6a131d1dcd/t/66bb63fdcdba62679b200277/1723556861413/Artificial+Intelligence-1.pdf

Jordan Wales’ Resources

“What Will a Future with Androids among Us Look Like”: https://churchlifejournal.nd.edu/articles/what-will-a-future-with-androids-among-us-look-like/

“The Image and the Idol: A Theological Reflection on AI Bias”: https://churchlifejournal.nd.edu/articles/the-image-and-the-idol-a-theological-reflection-on-ai-bias/

“Encountering Artificial Intelligence: Ethical and Anthropological Investigations”: https://jmt.scholasticahq.com/article/91230-encountering-artificial-intelligence-ethical-and-anthropological-investigations