Artificial Intelligence and Peace:

World Day of Peace 2024

Senior Fellow Dr. Maryann Cusimano Love recently represented the Holy See at the second Meeting of States Parties to the Treaty to Prohibit Nuclear Weapons. After that meeting, the Holy See requested representatives to post Pope Francis’ World Day of Peace message on Artificial Intelligence and Peace, which was published for the 57th World Day of Peace, to be celebrated on January 1, 2024.

The Holy Father’s Message was released on December 14 at a conference given at the Holy See Press Office.

The Pope’s Message, divided into eight sections, examines the question of the progress of science and technology as a path to peace and reflects on the future of artificial intelligence (AI). 

The Pope also encourages that the ethical dimensions of AI, including issues of privacy, prejudice, and impact on human dignity, be addressed in the sphere of education and in the development of international law.

The Holy Father further highlights some of the potential risks posed by AI, for example misinformation and social control, stressing the need for the regulation and monitoring of the development of AI technologies, such that they serve the human family and the protection of our common home.

“If artificial intelligence were used to promote integral human development, it could introduce important innovations in agriculture, education and culture,” writes the Pope, adding that “the way we use it to include the least of our brothers and sisters, the vulnerable and those most in need, will be the true measure of our humanity.”

“New Nukes and New Risks: The Peril of Nuclear Weapons in an Unstable World”

At this event, organized by Fordham’s CRC together with the Catholic Peacebuilding Network and the Project on Revitalizing Catholic Engagement on Nuclear Disarmament, IPR Fellow Maryann Cusimano Love participated in a public forum with Papal Nuncio Archbishop Gabriele Caccia, former NATO Deputy Secretary General Rose Gottemoeller, and Mexican Ambassador Juan Manuel Gómez-Robledo. A video link of the talk can be found here.

A follow-up interview with Dr. Cusimano Love by the National Catholic Reporter can be found on the NCR website.

Breaking the Impasse to Advance Peace on the Korean Peninsula

The Institute for Policy Research, in partnership with the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, co-sponsored the conference Breaking the Impasse to Advance Peace on the Korean Peninsula with a visiting delegation of bishops and government officials from South Korea.

This conference took place on Wednesday, October 5, 2022 in Caldwell Auditorium. On Thursday, October 6, 2022 there were two documentary film screenings and discussions with Korean students and our students and faculty. Crossings was shown at 10:00 am with a panel discussion from 11:30 am -12:30 pm, and A Veteran's Day Out was shown at 7:00 pm, both in Caldwell Auditorium.

Can America’s Wars Be Just?

On September 13, 2022, Congressman Jerry McNerney (D-California), Dr. Maryann Cusimano Love, Dr. Joseph Capizzi, and panelists discussed U.S. House of Representatives Resolution 109 urging consideration of "Just War" principles prior to any Congressional vote with respect to a declaration of war or an authorization of the use of military force.

Catholic Peacebuilding in Times of Crisis: Hope for a Wounded World

The world is emerging from an historic health crisis that has exacerbated existing conflicts, poverty, inequalities, polarization, and threats to the environment. While the pandemic led to unprecedented cooperation and heroic responses by many, it also exposed deficits in leadership and emboldened authoritarians, demagogues, and chauvinistic nationalists. Just as the world hopes to move beyond the pandemic, the Russian invasion of Ukraine threatens global peace in ways thought unimaginable when the pandemic began. The challenge to Catholic peacebuilders is clear: we must ensure that the post-pandemic return to “normal” does not look like the pre-pandemic status quo, or worse. That will require an integral and integrated approach to peace, development and ecology because the cry of war’s victims, the cry of the poor, and the cry of the earth rise as one (Laudato Si’, no. 49).

On June 20, 2022, an international virtual conference convened a wide range of Catholic peacebuilders – Church leaders, scholars, peacebuilding specialists and other practitioners – from around the world. It allowed participants to learn from their rich and diverse experiences in confronting challenges to peace around the world and helped them discern new and creative ways to respond to the historic challenges to peace that we now face.

Plenary sessions were in English with simultaneous translation in Spanish and French. Breakout sessions were in English, French, or Spanish, with simultaneous translation for select sessions.

Worldwide Teach-in: Climate Justice

On March 30, 2022 over 1,000 Colleges, Universities, High Schools and K-8 schools worldwide participated in a one-day Teach-In on climate solutions and justice in the transition. The Institute for Policy Research was a proud co-sponsor of the event.

The End of the Pax Americana? A Teach-In on the War in Ukraine

On Wednesday, March 2, 2022, a panel of experts, including IPR Senior Fellows William Barbieri and Maryann Cusimano Love, addressed the historical background, situation on the ground, religious and ethical dimensions, humanitarian consequences, geopolitical implications, and prospects for a peaceful resolution regarding the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

The Nukes Next Door

An Online Webinar and Student Discussion on Wednesday, February 16, 2022.

The Institute for Policy Research and Catholic Studies at Catholic University, Notre Dame University's Kroc Institute of Peace, Georgetown University's Berkeley Center, and the Catholic Peacebuilding Network's Project to Revitalize Catholic Engagement on Nuclear Disarmament hosted this student discussion.

The topic was The Nukes Next Door, with the student discussion centered on pages 19-30 of the Archbishop of Santa Fe, John C. Wester's, pastoral letter on nuclear disarmament.

Promoting Integral Human Development and Peace in the Digital Age: New Technologies in the Post-COVID World 

A Conference held in person in the Sala Etchegaray at the Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development and virtually on Zoom on Thursday, December 9, 2021. 

The conference was organized by the Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development, the Vatican COVID-19 Commission with the support of the Pontifical Council for Culture and in collaboration with Diplo Foundation, Torino World Affairs Institute, the Institute for Policy Research and Catholic Studies at the Catholic University of America, and Pax Christi International.

It brought to light emerging moral and ethical questions related to the impact of new technologies on the post-pandemic world towards new approaches to integral human development and peace. Experts offered a general scientific and ethical analysis along with case studies showcasing how new technologies can be placed at the service of integral human development, especially in the fields of food security, integral healthcare including fair and equitable access to Covid-19 vaccines, dignified labor, peace and security, and promotion of a communal economy. The event raised crucial questions regarding the use of these technologies and their impact on the human being and its integral development. 

The discussion sought to expand upon Pope Francis's vision of the use of technology in the modern world: "we can once more broaden our vision. We have the freedom needed to limit and direct technology; we can put it at the service of another type of progress, one which is healthier, more human, more social, more integral" (Laudato si' 112). 

Creating a World without Nuclear Weapons

A Webinar from Wednesday, November 10, 2021

In honor of Native American Heritage Month, and Veteran’s Day, the topic of discussion was the humanitarian impacts of nuclear weapons and uranium mining for nuclear weapons production, particularly on Navajo Nation, as well as the people of Kazakhstan, and the efforts to extend the Radiation Exposure Compensation Act.

The conversation was led by Dr. Maryann Cusimano Love from the Catholic University of America, with a team of students from Catholic University, as well as Mr. Patrick Ryan, a CUA photographer who shared his experience in Kazakhstan with nuclear testing victims.

BEYOND CRISIS: Haiti’s Challenges and Paths Forward

A Webinar from Thursday, October 7, 2021

Natural disasters, assassination, gang warfare, refugees – recent news tells only part of the story.

Catholic University alumnus Drack Bonhomme, founder of Haiti's first graduate school in international affairs, discussed the enduring challenges and most recent difficulties faced by Haiti, its government, and its people.

Drack joined a webinar on Thursday, October 7, 2021 at 11:00 AM hosted by Dr. James Quirk, IPR Fellow and Adjunct Professor of the Department of Politics, School of Arts and Sciences at The Catholic University of America.