“For all our technology and all our progress, many people seem more restless than ever,” said Bishop of Raphoe Niall Coll during the National Novena to our Lady of Knock on August 15. Both Bishop Coll and Bishop Kevin Doran spoke at the annual Novena this year about technology’s impact on our everyday lives.
“We are connected (technologically) to more people than any generation before us – and yet many people feel lonely…We have become very good at managing life – but perhaps we have become less good at simply living it,” continued Bishop Coll. The Raphoe bishop said Knock Shrine can teach us to “open our hearts and receive” rather than trying to “manage” God as we try to manage other aspects of our lives.
Referencing Pope Leo’s Magnifica Humanitas, Bishop Doran spoke about technology’s dual abilities to connect but also divide. “Pope Leo explains that AI systems are geared to seeking perfection. He argued that “AI can contribute in so many different contexts to dividing society into ‘us’ and ‘them’.”
