EWTN News reports on educators within the conciliar structures weighing the benefits and challenges of artificial intelligence (AI) in the classroom, citing the encyclical *Magnifica Humanitas* by the antipope Leo XIV as a guiding framework for its ethical use. The article presents AI as a tool for efficiency and research, while acknowledging concerns about “cognitive offloading” and the need for human connection. However, this entire discussion operates within a framework that fundamentally ignores the supernatural purpose of education and the spiritual dangers posed by such technologies, reducing the formation of the human person to mere naturalistic development and technological proficiency.
The Encyclical *Magnifica Humanitas*: A Modernist Blueprint for a Godless “Humanity”
The article’s reliance on *Magnifica Humanitas* as a guiding principle for AI integration in education is a telling indicator of the conciliar sect’s foundational errors. This encyclical, like its predecessors from the post-Vatican II era, consistently prioritizes a naturalistic “human development” and “human dignity” divorced from the supernatural order. It speaks of “rebuilding our city that we want to live in, the future together,” a phrase that echoes the modernist aspiration for a purely earthly, humanistic utopia, rather than the City of God.
True Catholic education, as articulated by the Church for centuries, has always aimed at the formatio totius hominis (formation of the whole person), which means guiding the soul towards its ultimate end: the vision of God. Pope Pius XI, in his encyclical *Divini Illius Magistri* (1929), unequivocally stated that the purpose of education is “to cooperate with divine grace in forming the true and perfect Christian.” He further emphasized that “the true Christian, product of Christian education, is the supernatural man who thinks, judges and acts constantly and consistently in accordance with right reason illumined by the supernatural light of the example and teaching of Christ.” The modernist focus on “human development” through AI, while perhaps acknowledging some practical benefits, entirely omits this supernatural dimension, thereby reducing education to a mere secular endeavor, albeit one cloaked in religious language.
The Illusion of “Human Dignity” Without Christ the King
The article quotes Professor Fernanda Psihas emphasizing the need to “preserve the ‘human element'” and Paolo Carozza stating that technology must orient us towards “the fundamental understanding of reality, including the reality of ourselves and what we’re made for.” While these statements sound benign, they are profoundly ambiguous within the context of the conciliar Church. What “human element” is being preserved if the supernatural grace, the sacraments, and the true doctrine of man’s fall and redemption through Christ are either diluted or ignored? What “reality” is being understood if it excludes the reality of sin, grace, heaven, and hell?
The modernist concept of “human dignity” often stands in stark contrast to the Catholic understanding. For the Church, human dignity is intrinsically linked to man’s creation in the image and likeness of God, his redemption by Christ, and his call to supernatural happiness. Without this foundation, “human dignity” becomes a subjective, secular construct, easily manipulated by the prevailing ideologies of the age, including the worship of technological progress. As Pope Pius XI warned in *Quas Primas*, “the plague that poisons human society” is “secularism of our times, so-called laicism, its errors and wicked endeavors,” which began with “the denial of Christ the Lord’s reign over all nations.” The uncritical embrace of AI, even with caveats about its ethical use, without first affirming Christ’s absolute kingship over all aspects of life, including education, is a symptom of this very laicism.
The Deception of “Cognitive Offloading” and the Loss of True Learning
The article rightly identifies “cognitive offloading” as a concern, where students might use AI to avoid genuine learning. Professor Psihas notes the risk of students “faking competence and avoiding the actual learning,” and Carozza speaks of the “de-skilling of students’ basic capacities to write and to think critically.” An Chih Cheng further elaborates on the dangers of passive learning and isolation, especially for children, and the superficiality of AI-generated answers that bypass the “truth-seeking endeavor that requires patience.”
However, the proposed solutions remain entirely within the naturalistic sphere. The focus is on “AI-proofing assignments,” using AI for research, or comparing human and AI analysis. This approach fails to grasp the deeper spiritual and intellectual crisis. True learning, in the Catholic tradition, is not merely about acquiring information or developing critical thinking skills for worldly success. It is about the pursuit of truth, which is ultimately God Himself, and the formation of virtues that lead to salvation. The modernist educational system, even when grappling with AI, still operates on the premise that man is merely a sophisticated animal, and education is about optimizing his natural capacities for earthly existence.
The Church has always taught that genuine intellectual formation requires discipline, effort, and the cultivation of virtues like humility, diligence, and obedience to truth. The reliance on AI, even as a tool, risks fostering intellectual laziness and a superficial understanding of complex issues, further distancing students from the rigorous intellectual tradition of Catholic scholasticism, which sought to understand reality in light of divine revelation.
The Abomination of Desolation in the Classroom: A Symptom of Apostasy
The entire discussion about AI in education, as presented in the article, is a profound symptom of the systemic apostasy of the conciliar Church. It demonstrates a complete absence of the supernatural perspective that should permeate all Catholic endeavors. The “educators” quoted, and the “pope” whose encyclical is cited, operate within a framework that has effectively severed education from its divine purpose.
Instead of calling for a return to Christ the King as the center of all education, and a rejection of all that distracts from supernatural formation, the conciliar structures seek to “integrate” the latest technological idol into their already compromised system. This is not a solution but an acceleration of the problem. The “abomination of desolation” (Matt. 24:15) is not merely a physical desecration but a spiritual one, where the holy place (the Church and her institutions) is occupied by that which is profane and contrary to God’s law. The uncritical embrace of AI, without a clear and unequivocal subordination to the supernatural end of man and the kingship of Christ, is a manifestation of this spiritual desolation.
The article’s concluding statement, that the pope’s call is “not about using AI to replace teachers or professors but rather to incorporate AI in a way that can further human development and in a way that delivers … spiritual attainment,” is a blatant contradiction. How can a tool of secular progress, developed by a world often hostile to God, deliver “spiritual attainment” if the very definition of “spiritual attainment” has been emptied of its true Catholic content by the modernists? This is the language of the New Advent, a syncretistic blend of worldly progress and diluted religious sentiment, designed to lead souls astray under the guise of “development” and “human dignity.”
In conclusion, the conciliar Church’s engagement with AI in education is not a sign of prudent adaptation but a further descent into the abyss of modernism. It highlights the urgent need for the faithful to reject these compromised structures and return to the immutable principles of Catholic education, where Christ is truly King, and the formation of souls for eternity is the sole and supreme objective.
Source:
Educators weigh benefits and challenges of AI in the classroom (ewtnnews.com)
Date: 06.06.2026