Santiago Taboada
With the rise of certain technology and virtual platforms, we are increasingly connected. We can reach people who are thousands of kilometers away in a matter of seconds, receive the latest news live, or meet people online.
However, as the Pope said during the general audience, we run the risk that this technological development will wear down the depth and substance of interpersonal relationships.
POPE LEO XIV
Relationships tend to become less and less personal and more virtual, and we run the risk of getting used to delegating to algorithms decisions that should be left solely to the human conscience.
The pope, drawing on the Second Vatican Council’s constitution Gaudium et spes, explained that in order to preserve human relationships, two fundamental values must be guaranteed. The first: respect for human dignity.
POPE LEO XIV
Everything that is contrary to life itself, such as all forms of murder, genocide, abortion, euthanasia, and voluntary suicide; everything that violates the integrity of the human person
All these things, and others like them, are certainly shameful.
León pointed out that the second fundamental value is love for one's adversary, for those who think differently. This leads to equality.
POPE LEO XIV
Any form of discrimination regarding fundamental human rights, whether in the
social or cultural sphere, based on sex, race, color, social status, language, or religion, must be overcome and eliminated, as it is contrary to God’s plan.
The pope also took the opportunity to greet pilgrims from Paris, where he will travel on his next apostolic visit. He also greeted the chaplains of Italian prisons, who were accompanied by their director general, Don Raffaele Grimaldi.
POPE LEO XIV
In particular, I am grateful to the General Inspectorate of Chaplains and to all of you for the invaluable collaboration you offer to me and to the Secretariat of State in providing spiritual support to the troubled lives of so many brothers and sisters in prison who write to the Pope to share their tragedies and their wounds.
Pope Leo XIV bid farewell to the pilgrims in St. Peter's Square, encouraging them to sing.
