{"id":26731,"date":"2026-06-26T02:06:10","date_gmt":"2026-06-25T20:36:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/banitoday.com\/pope-leo-to-convene-cardinals-to-rethink-war-and-peace-in-the-age-of-ai\/"},"modified":"2026-06-26T02:06:10","modified_gmt":"2026-06-25T20:36:10","slug":"pope-leo-to-convene-cardinals-to-rethink-war-and-peace-in-the-age-of-ai","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/banitoday.com\/hi\/pope-leo-to-convene-cardinals-to-rethink-war-and-peace-in-the-age-of-ai\/","title":{"rendered":"Pope Leo to convene cardinals to rethink war and peace in the age of AI"},"content":{"rendered":"


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VATICAN CITY (RNS) \u2014 Pope Leo XIV will host his second major summit of cardinals Friday and Saturday (June 26-27) at the Vatican, where they are expected to address questions of war, peace and whether Catholic teaching can still rely on the centuries-old theory of a \u201cjust war\u201d in an age of drones, nuclear weapons and artificial intelligence.<\/p>\n

The summit, called an extraordinary consistory, invites the 241 members of the College of Cardinals to Rome with the goal of assisting and advising the pope on important church matters. An extraordinary consistory is considered among the pope\u2019s most consequential consultations with cardinals, planned \u201cwhen the special needs of the Church and more serious matters suggest it,\u201d according to canon law.<\/p>\n

The gathering underscores the pope\u2019s intention to heed the cardinals\u2019 request to be more active participants in leading the church after his election last year. Pope Benedict XVI never convened an extraordinary consistory, while Pope Francis only convened two, one in 2014 and the other in 2015. Leo has promised to hold such a gathering every year.<\/p>\n

While Leo\u2019s first consistory, in January, focused on missions and evangelization, the upcoming summit is meant to center on peace. With violent conflicts around the world, including in Europe and the Middle East, and as modern warfare becomes increasingly more efficient and lethal, Leo and the cardinals are to reconsider whether any war can be morally legitimized under church teaching.<\/p>\n

The dean of the College of Cardinals, Cardinal Giovanni Battista Re, said the summit will address how the church can overcome that just war theory is \u201ctoo often invoked to justify any war,\u201d in a letter outlining the anticipated discussions.<\/p>\n\n\n

Just war theory in Catholic teaching refers to a set of moral brakes where wars are narrowly justified, primarily when they are for defensive purposes.\u00a0<\/p>\n

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Pope Leo XIV talks to journalists as he leaves his residence in Castel Gandolfo, on the outskirts of Rome, May 5, 2026. (AP Photo\/Gregorio Borgia)<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Pope Leo recently questioned just war theory, especially as it concerns the ongoing conflict between the U.S. and Iran, while answering questions from journalists aboard the papal plane for his weeklong visit to Spain earlier this month. \u201cThe problem is that the just war theory comes from centuries past when we couldn\u2019t imagine the weapons, human beings\u2019 ability for destruction,\u201d Leo said.<\/p>\n

According to the catechism of the Catholic Church, military force can only be justified to avoid \u201cgrave and certain\u201d damage and when all peaceful alternatives have failed. It must also ensure that it will not unleash greater evil than the one it\u2019s resisting.<\/p>\n

The first session of the consistory on Friday morning will ask cardinals, \u201cIn what world are we to proclaim the gospel?\u201d and is to focus on churches around the world. It\u2019s not a coincidence that Polish Cardinal Grzegorz Ry\u015b of Krakow will deliver the biblical meditation opening the discussion. Ry\u015b ministers across the border from the conflict in Ukraine and has backed aid for Ukrainian civilians while condemning militarization in Europe. He has also said that war is born from idolatry of power and money and that peace cannot be imposed by force.<\/p>\n

Most directly relevant to the consistory\u2019s theme, Ry\u015b said in a March interview<\/a> that \u201cpreventive war is not a just war.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

The consistory will enter the main focus of the discussions in its second session Friday afternoon and the third on Saturday morning, both centered on Leo\u2019s first encyclical, \u201cMagnifica Humanitas.\u201d The encyclical, the pope\u2019s first official document advising church teaching, was released in May and reflected on what it means to be human in an increasingly polarized society driven by war, inequality and technology, including artificial intelligence.<\/p>\n

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Pope Leo XIV, left, attends the presentation of his first encyclical, \u201cMagnifica Humanitas: On Safeguarding the Human Person in the Time of Artificial Intelligence,\u201d at the Vatican, May 25, 2026. (AP Photo\/Alessandra Tarantino)<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

The head of the Vatican\u2019s doctrinal department, Cardinal Victor Manuel Fern\u00e1ndez, who presented the encyclical alongside Leo, will offer the introductory meditation for the second session, drawing on the title of the document\u2019s fifth chapter, \u201cThe Culture of Power and the Civilization of Love.\u201d<\/p>\n

That chapter is centered on the themes of war and peace. Leo addresses normalization of war as a \u201cparadigm shift,\u201d in which the principles and international tools for peace are being eroded in favor of a culture of power. Meanwhile, new technologies and AI are making warfare not only more efficient but also more inhuman than ever, with machines increasingly taking over lethal decisions.<\/p>\n

The church must resist this impetus by promoting a civilization of love, the document states, based on patient dialogue, diplomacy and renewed multilateral efforts.<\/p>\n

In this chapter, Leo suggests that \u201cwithout prejudice to the right to self-defense in the strictest sense, the \u2018just war\u2019 theory, which has all too often been used to justify any kind of war, is now outdated.\u201d<\/p>\n

After morning Mass presided by Re in St. Peter\u2019s Basilica on Saturday, the cardinals will convene for the third session, on the theme \u201cbuilding in goodness.\u201d Cardinal Stephen Brislin of Johannesburg will offer the meditation based on the introduction and conclusion of \u201cMagnifica Humanitas.\u201d<\/p>\n

In this portion, cardinals will reflect on what the church can do to promote listening and reconciliation in dioceses and through their responsibilities. In the conclusion and introduction of the encyclical, Leo juxtaposes the biblical image of the Tower of Babel, founded on power and division, with the reconstruction of the city of Jerusalem as a grassroots endeavor.<\/p>\n

Brislin will likely draw from his experience attempting to heal South Africa\u2019s still-open wounds of racial discrimination and apartheid to outline a concrete path for the church built on truth, accountability and dialogue.<\/p>\n

The final session of the consistory will shift the focus to implementing the Synod on Synodality, a massive consultation of Catholics created by Pope Francis in 2021 that resulted in two summits of bishops, or synods, at the Vatican. Cardinal Mario Grech, secretary-general of the Synod of Bishops, recently signed a document outlining a three-year implementation period for the synod, focusing on listening, inclusivity and mission.<\/p>\n

Synodality will also be ingrained in the summit. After each meditation, participants will be divided into 20 groups to hold small discussions in which speeches will be limited to three minutes each.<\/p>\n

After the final session, a moment will be dedicated to open dialogue between the cardinals and pope, who will deliver a broadcasted speech. The gathering will officially conclude on Monday, when Pope Leo will preside over a Mass at St. Peter\u2019s Basilica for the Feast of Sts. Peter and Paul.<\/p>\n\n\n

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