Popes, synods, conventions, and councils have now spoken about artificial intelligence. Here is what each one said, how much authority it carries, and a link to read it yourself. Summaries are ours. The documents are theirs.
The statements differ in audience and authority. Some speak to governments, some to pastors. Read side by side, five threads run through almost all of them.
The image of God is the starting point.
Nearly every statement grounds its ethics in human beings made in God’s image. Worth is not measured by intelligence or output, so a capable machine does not change who a person is.
Found in: SBC 2023, ERLC 2019, Antiqua et nova, Magnifica Humanitas, Brentwood, Lausanne
Truthfulness and disclosure.
Several statements ask Christians who use AI to say so, and not to present generated work as their own or as a word from God.
Found in: SBC 2023, Brentwood, Methodist Church in Britain, Episcopal Church task force
Relationships cannot be outsourced.
Pastoral care, teaching, and friendship require persons. Simulated empathy is not the same as being known by someone.
Found in: Antiqua et nova, Methodist Church in Britain, Lausanne, Brentwood
Guard people’s data.
Congregations share sensitive things. Statements aimed at ministry practice ask leaders to keep personal data out of AI tools unless it is protected.
Found in: Brentwood, Methodist Church in Britain, Anglican Church of Canada
Power and regulation.
Statements aimed at society ask governments for binding rules and ask companies to accept responsibility for harm.
Found in: WCC 2023, Episcopal Church D017, Magnifica Humanitas, USCCB task force
Where they differ.
Catholic and ecumenical documents lean toward society, work, and regulation. Evangelical statements and Methodist guidance lean toward ministry practice: sermons, data, and disclosure. Read both kinds. Your church needs both.
15 statements · Last checked September 22, 2026
The library, newest first.
Each entry says who spoke, what kind of document it is, and how much authority it carries. Summaries are paraphrased. Open the source before you quote it.
Catholic
Task force
Bishops’ Task Force on Preserving Human Dignity in the Age of Artificial Intelligence
United States Conference of Catholic Bishops
Formed after the bishops’ Administrative Committee met with technology leaders and AI specialists.
Chaired by Bishop Oscar Cantú of San Jose, the diocese that includes Silicon Valley.
Focus: policies that protect human dignity, religious liberty, workers, families, and vulnerable people, including children online.
Authority: A new working body of the U.S. bishops. It will advise and advocate; it does not issue doctrine.
When a statement is added, a summary or link is updated, or a source is replaced, it is logged here. The library is checked against its sources every quarter.
Added a link to Lumin’s plain-language explainer, Magnifica Humanitas, explained.
Added
15 statements
The library opened with 15 statements from 2019 to 2026, each checked against its source.
Help us find these
Not in the library yet.
The library has no statement yet from the churches below. That is a gap in this library, not a claim about whether they have spoken. If you know of a statement, send a link to the primary source: the church’s own site or the document itself.
Know of a statement from another church? Email [email protected] with a link to the source. Once it is checked, it is added above with a dated entry in the change log.
Leading a church? These statements are the raw material for a local policy. The church AI policy template turns their common threads into rules a staff can follow.
Kept by Lumin, a Bible AI that names the verse beside every answer. What Lumin is
Common questions
Plain answers.
What does the Catholic Church say about AI?
The fullest statements are Antiqua et nova (January 2025), a note from two Vatican dicasteries, and Pope Leo XIV’s encyclical Magnifica Humanitas (May 2026). Both ground AI ethics in human dignity, warn against treating AI as a person or a god, and call for technology that serves people rather than concentrating power.
What do Southern Baptists say about AI?
The SBC adopted a resolution on AI and emerging technologies in 2023, following the ERLC’s 2019 Evangelical Statement of Principles. In June 2026 Lifeway and Southern Baptist leaders published the Brentwood Statement on AI and Christian ministry.
Has any church banned AI?
None of the statements in this library bans AI. They set conditions: honesty about use, care with personal data, human responsibility, and keeping pastoral relationships human.
Are these statements binding on my church?
It depends on the document and your tradition. An encyclical carries teaching authority for Catholics. An SBC resolution expresses the convention’s view but does not bind local churches. Each entry here notes what kind of document it is.
What is missing from this list?
Probably something. The library has no statement yet from Pentecostal bodies, the historic Black churches, and several others listed on this page. Email [email protected] with a link to the official source; once checked, it is added with a dated entry in the change log.
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