The National Synodal Assembly in Gormanston marks a significant moment for the Church in Ireland as five years of prayer, listening and discernment begin to find expression in practical steps towards renewal and mission.

The Archdiocese of Armagh joined representatives from across the Catholic Church in Ireland on Saturday 17 October 2026 for the National Synodal Assembly in Gormanston, County Meath. The gathering brought together lay women and men, bishops, priests, religious and representatives of Catholic organisations and communities to reflect on the future of the Church in Ireland and to discern how it might respond more faithfully to the call of the Gospel.

For the Archdiocese of Armagh, the Assembly represented both a significant moment in the national Synodal Pathway and a continuation of the work already taking place across its own parishes, schools and communities. It offered an opportunity to bring the experience of local listening, prayer and discernment into the wider conversation about the renewal of the Church in Ireland.

Opening the Assembly on behalf of the Irish Bishops’ Conference, Archbishop Eamon Martin recalled the vision of a Synodal Church set out by the late Pope Francis exactly eleven years earlier, on 17 October 2015.

Archbishop Eamon reminded delegates of Pope Francis’ conviction that:

“It is precisely this path of synodality which God expects of the Church of the third millennium.”

Reflecting on the progress of the Irish Synodal Pathway since 2021, Archbishop Eamon emphasised that synodality concerns much more than assemblies, consultations or new ecclesial structures. It represents a deeper conversion in how the Church lives, listens, discerns and carries out its mission.

“Over the past five years we have come to understand that synodality is not simply about events such as this one, or about new structures for the Church in Ireland,” he said.

“Instead it is about a way of BEING Church, centred on prayer and encounter with Christ, nourished by the Holy Mass and the sacraments.”

Armagh’s contribution to the Synodal Pathway

The National Assembly comes at an important time for the Archdiocese of Armagh, which has spent recent years encouraging a renewed understanding of the shared baptismal responsibility of all the faithful for the life and mission of the Church.

In March 2026, nearly 300 delegates gathered in Armagh for the Diocesan Synodal Congress on Youth, Family and Faith. That gathering built upon several years of listening and reflection within the Archdiocese and provided an opportunity for parishioners, clergy, religious, young people and families to consider how the Church might respond creatively and faithfully to the pastoral realities of today.

The Congress helped identify priorities for pastoral renewal, with particular attention to strengthening parish life, accompanying families, engaging young people and encouraging a more missionary Church.

Its work continues through Archbishop Eamon’s pastoral letter, Go, Rebuild My Church, and the five missionary pathways of Formation, Liturgy, Accompaniment, Mission and Encounter, known collectively as FLAME.

These diocesan priorities share much with the concerns emerging across the Church in Ireland. They reflect a growing recognition that renewal cannot depend solely upon national initiatives or decisions. It must also take root in the everyday life of parishes and communities, where people encounter Christ, celebrate their faith, care for one another and share responsibility for the Church’s mission.

The participation of the Archdiocese in the National Assembly therefore formed part of a wider commitment to ensure that the voices and experiences of local faith communities contribute to the continuing renewal of the Church, both locally and nationally.

Five pathways for the Church in Ireland

At the heart of the National Assembly were five pathways which brought together the fruits of prayer, listening and discernment undertaken across Ireland since 2021.

They invited delegates to consider how the Church might become more faithful to its missionary calling, deepen its sense of belonging, respond to experiences of hurt and exclusion, accompany people through the realities of life, and recognise the gifts and responsibilities of all the baptised.

The pathways were:

Through prayer, reflection, conversation and discernment, delegates considered 35 pastoral proposals arising from these pathways. Their recommendations will now contribute to the further discernment of the Irish Bishops’ Conference as it considers the next steps in the national process.

The proposals addressed many of the realities facing the Church in Ireland, including the place of young people and families, the recognition of women’s gifts and leadership, the need for healing and reconciliation, and the development of a more participative and missionary Church.

Although the proposals attracted differing levels of support and some will require further consideration, the Assembly demonstrated a continuing willingness among participants to engage with the difficult questions facing the Church and to seek practical ways forward together.

Archbishop Eamon welcomed this spirit of participation, reminding delegates that the Synodal Pathway must remain open to different experiences, perspectives and even criticism. He recalled Pope Francis’ encouragement of parrhesia, the courage to speak openly and truthfully.

Cardinal Grech:  From discernment to mission

Addressing delegates through a recorded message, Cardinal Mario Grech, Secretary General of the Synod of Bishops, praised the commitment of the Church in Ireland to the Synodal Pathway and encouraged participants to move confidently from discernment towards implementation.

Cardinal Grech emphasised that the purpose of synodality is not simply to bring people together for discussion but to enable the Church to become more faithful and effective in its mission.

He reminded delegates of the words of the Final Document of the Universal Synod:

“Mission illuminates synodality and synodality spurs to mission.” (§32)

Reflecting particularly on the importance of marriage and family life, Cardinal Grech encouraged the Church in Ireland to strengthen its pastoral accompaniment of families, recognising both their beauty and the difficulties and fragilities they experience.

He also encouraged participants to look beyond the challenges of declining religious practice and changing parish structures, and instead to recognise the new possibilities for faith and mission which the Holy Spirit may be bringing to birth.

“Do not measure the future of the Church simply by what is disappearing. Discern what the Holy Spirit is bringing to birth,” he told the Assembly.

This call has particular resonance for the Archdiocese of Armagh as it continues to develop the pastoral priorities emerging from its own Synodal Congress. The task facing the Church is not simply to preserve existing ways of doing things, but to discern how its people, gifts and resources can best serve the proclamation of the Gospel today.

The next steps for the Archdiocese of Armagh

As the National Assembly concluded, attention turned towards the practical work that lies ahead.

In his closing address, Archbishop Eamon affirmed the determination of the Irish Bishops to continue the Synodal Pathway and to ensure that the recommendations of the Assembly receive careful consideration.

“We fully intend to continue this work, because we believe it is the way of the Church for today and tomorrow,” he said.

He acknowledged that some recommendations might lead to relatively immediate action, while others will require further discernment, planning and resources. He also recognised the need to build upon the many pastoral initiatives already taking place throughout Ireland.

For the Archdiocese of Armagh, this work is already underway.

During November, parish representatives will gather regionally to reflect further on Archbishop Eamon’s pastoral letter, Go, Rebuild My Church, and the priorities and proposals that emerged from the Diocesan Synodal Congress.

These gatherings will provide an opportunity to consider how the five FLAME missionary pathways can find practical expression within parish life, and how local communities might identify particular priorities for renewal.

Parishes will be encouraged to discern one or two proposals that they can begin to develop, while also considering the support, formation and resources they will need to bring these commitments to life.

An important part of this continuing work will also involve reflecting upon the experience of synodality itself. As the universal Church prepares to evaluate the implementation of the Synod on Synodality during 2027, the Archdiocese will have an opportunity to consider what has been learned through five years of listening, dialogue and discernment, and how these experiences are shaping the life and mission of the local Church.

The challenge is to ensure that synodality becomes more than an occasional gathering or consultation. It must increasingly become part of how our parishes listen, pray, make decisions, share responsibility and respond to the needs of their communities.

Looking towards 2032 with hope

In his concluding remarks, Archbishop Eamon invited delegates to consider the years ahead in the light of several important anniversaries, including the bicentenary of Catholic Emancipation in 2029, the 1,600th anniversary of the coming of St Patrick to Ireland in 2032, and the Extraordinary Jubilee of Redemption in 2033.

These milestones offer opportunities not simply to commemorate the past, but to reflect on the kind of Church we are becoming and the missionary responsibility entrusted to us.

For the Archdiocese of Armagh, the approaching anniversary of St Patrick in 2032 carries particular significance. The vision of renewal expressed in Go, Rebuild My Church invites us to rediscover something of the missionary faith, courage and imagination associated with St Patrick, and to consider what it means to proclaim Christ in the Ireland of today.

The National Synodal Assembly has provided an important moment of encouragement in that work. It has also reminded us that the renewal of the Church will not come about through proposals and plans alone. It will require prayer, personal and communal conversion, trust in the Holy Spirit and the generous participation of the whole People of God.

As the Assembly drew to a close, Archbishop Eamon recalled the theme chosen by Pope Leo XIV for the centenary celebration of World Mission Sunday, which followed on 18 October:

“One in Christ, united in mission.”

These words offer a fitting expression of what lies ahead, both for the Church in Ireland and for our own Archdiocese.

The National Assembly may have concluded, but the work of renewal continues in our homes, schools, parishes and communities, wherever people respond to Christ’s invitation to live and share the Gospel.

As Archbishop Eamon reminded delegates, the Church cannot fulfil its mission if division and cynicism prevent us from recognising the gifts that the Holy Spirit continues to bestow upon us.

The invitation now is to continue together, with faith, courage and hope, trusting that the same Spirit who has accompanied our listening and discernment will guide the next steps.

One in Christ, united in mission. A People Called to Shine, Sent to Serve.

The Archdiocese has launched a new set of pastoral resources to help reflect on the fruits of the Diocesan Synodal Congress on Youth, Family and Faith

The resources follow Archbishop Eamon Martin’s recent pastoral letter, Go, Rebuild My Church, which was read at Masses throughout the Archdiocese on 3 and 4 October 2026.  They are designed to help parishes and schools begin shaping the next steps in the renewal of the Church.

Together, the pastoral letter and two new documents, Pathways and Proposals Table 2026–2032: What We Heard and What Comes Next and Go, Rebuild My Church: Guide to Reflection on the Pathways Table, invite the whole diocesan family to continue the work of listening, prayer and discernment, and to consider how the hopes expressed during the Congress might begin to take shape in parish and community life.

From Listening and Discernment to Pastoral Action

The Diocesan Synodal Congress, held in Armagh from 20 to 22 March 2026, brought together clergy, religious, young people, parents, teachers and parish representatives to reflect on the future of faith, family and parish life.

Building on more than five years of listening and discernment, the Congress considered how the Church might respond more faithfully and creatively to the changing realities of people’s lives, while recognising the gifts and contributions of the whole People of God.

The fruits of those conversations have now been gathered into five missionary pathways, offering a shared direction for renewal across the Archdiocese between 2026 and 2032.

Under the image of FLAME, these pathways are:

• Formation: Helping children, young people and adults deepen their faith and grow in confidence in living and sharing the Gospel.
• Liturgy: Renewing our experience of worship, welcome, participation and belonging within parish communities.
• Accompaniment: Strengthening the relationships between families, schools and parishes, with particular attention to young people after Confirmation and to young adults.
• Mission: Finding new ways to communicate, invite and share the Good News, including through digital evangelisation and outreach.
• Encounter: Creating opportunities for prayer, spiritual renewal and a deeper personal and communal relationship with Jesus Christ.

The Pathways and Proposals Table brings together the recommendations of the Congress and identifies possible pastoral actions, including renewed approaches to faith formation, stronger parish hospitality, support for families and young people, and greater cooperation between neighbouring parishes.

These proposals do not constitute a programme that every parish must undertake. Rather, they offer possibilities for communities to explore according to their own circumstances, needs and available resources.

“We Begin Again from Christ”

In his pastoral letter, Archbishop Eamon draws inspiration from Saint Francis of Assisi, who heard Christ’s invitation to “Go, rebuild my Church.”

What Francis first understood as a call to repair a building became a much deeper invitation to renew his own life in Christ and to live the Gospel with courage, humility and love.

Archbishop Eamon reminds us that this same invitation speaks to the Church today:

“We are not being asked simply to devise new programmes or to maintain existing structures, but, like young St Francis, we are being invited to encounter Jesus Christ, who heals what has been wounded, gathers what has become scattered and sends us out to be a people of hope, reconciliation and mission. We begin again from Christ.”

He also reminds us that this work belongs to everyone:

“The renewal and ‘rebuilding’ of our Church is the shared responsibility of the whole People of God here in the Archdiocese of Armagh.”

An Invitation to Every Parish and Community

To support this next stage, the Archdiocese has prepared a Guide to Reflection on the Pathways Table, designed for use by Parish Pastoral Councils, Finance Councils, Congress delegates, schools, young people, families and other interested parishioners.

The guide provides a simple framework for prayerful reflection and discussion, helping communities consider what they have heard, where they already see signs of hope and what practical steps might be possible locally.

Parishes are encouraged to begin by reflecting on the pastoral letter and the five pathways, asking what speaks most directly to their own circumstances.

The invitation is not to do everything, or to have every answer, but to identify one or two realistic steps that could make a difference in the life of the local Church.

The guide also encourages the use of Conversation in the Spirit, creating space for prayer, attentive listening and shared discernment.

The fruits of these local conversations will help shape five regional gatherings planned for November 2026, where representatives from across the Archdiocese will consider emerging priorities, practical possibilities and the support communities may need as they move towards implementation.

Further regional gatherings are envisaged for February 2027.

Particular attention will be given to ensuring that young people and families continue to have a voice in shaping the future of parish life, building on the experiences, hopes and concerns they shared throughout the Congress process.

CLICK HERE TO ACCESS THE FRUITS OF THE CONGRESS TABLE
CLICK HERE TO ACCESS THE REFLECTION GUIDE 

A People Called to Shine, Sent to Serve

The publication of these resources marks another step in responding to the Congress invitation to become A People Called to Shine, Sent to Serve.

The image of FLAME reminds us of the fire of Pentecost and of the Holy Spirit, whose gifts we receive in Baptism and whose presence strengthens us in Confirmation.

The renewal of our Church will not come about through documents or programmes alone. It will grow through the faith, prayer, generosity and participation of people in our parishes, schools, homes and communities.

Every parish has something to offer. Every community has its own gifts and challenges. And every baptised person has a part to play.

As Archbishop Eamon writes:

“In a fragmented world, Christ gathers. In a weary Church, Christ calls us: ‘Go, rebuild my Church.’”

The invitation now is to read, reflect, listen and discern together, trusting that the Holy Spirit continues to guide the Church and calls each of us to take part in its renewal.

Access the New Diocesan Resources

Parishes, schools and community groups are encouraged to make use of the following resources in preparation for the November regional gatherings:

1. Pathways and Proposals Table 2026–2032: What We Heard and What Comes Next
An overview of the five missionary pathways, the recommendations emerging from the Synodal Congress and possible actions for pastoral renewal.
CLICK HERE TO ACCESS

2. Go, Rebuild My Church: Guide to Reflection on the Pathways Table
A practical guide to support prayer, conversation and communal discernment within parishes, schools and local groups.
CLICK HERE TO ACCESS

3. Archbishop Eamon Martin’s Pastoral Letter: Go, Rebuild My Church
The Archbishop’s invitation to the whole Archdiocese to embrace the call to renewed faith, shared responsibility and mission.
CLICK HERE TO ACCESS

4. Parish Reflection Video
A short video introducing the invitation to renewal and encouraging communities to reflect on how they might respond.
Watch the Parish Reflection Video

The Archdiocese encourages parishes to share these resources with Parish Pastoral Councils, clergy, school communities, young people, families and all who wish to contribute to the future of the Church.

Go, rebuild my Church. Together, a people called to shine and sent to serve.

As the Irish National Synodal Assembly gathers in Gormanston on 17th October, the Archdiocese of Armagh is invited to pray for those taking part and to continue the work of discernment already unfolding in our own parishes and communities.

The Irish National Synodal Assembly will take place in Gormanston, Co Meath, on Saturday 17 October 2026, bringing together delegates from dioceses and other parts of the Church across Ireland.

The Assembly marks another significant moment in the five-year Irish Synodal Pathway. It does not bring that process to an end. Rather, it comes as the Church begins to turn more deliberately from listening and discernment towards implementation.

The recently published Working Document for the Irish National Synodal Assembly, entitled “Is not this what God asks of you?” from Micah 6:8, will provide the basis for the prayer, conversation, discernment and deliberation of delegates in Gormanston. 

During the Assembly, delegates will consider a series of suggested actions emerging from the years of listening and discernment across the Church in Ireland. Recommendations from the Assembly will subsequently be presented to the bishops of Ireland for their consideration.

Diocesan Congress:  Our own Process in Armagh

For the Archdiocese of Armagh, the National Assembly comes at a particularly significant time.

Earlier this year, our Diocesan Congress on Youth, Family and Faith gathered the fruits of extensive listening across our parishes, schools, families and communities. Archbishop Eamon’s recent Pastoral Letter has now invited us to begin putting that discernment into practice.

The National Assembly therefore sits within a wider movement already taking place locally. The questions being considered nationally meet the same fundamental challenge that has shaped our diocesan process: how is the Holy Spirit calling us to live the Gospel more faithfully and become a more missionary and synodal Church?

In the months ahead, parishes across the Archdiocese will continue reflecting on the fruits of our own Congress and considering the practical steps they can take in response. The Assembly in Gormanston gives us another opportunity to pray with the experience of the wider Church in Ireland while remaining attentive to what God is asking of us here in the Archdiocese of Armagh.

A Call for Prayer for the Assembly

We particularly ask the people of the Archdiocese to pray for the delegates from Armagh who will travel to Gormanston, for all those participating from across Ireland, and for the guidance of the Holy Spirit throughout the Assembly.

The Working Document is also available for anyone who wishes to read and pray with it. It invites the whole Church, not only those attending the Assembly, to return once more to the question which has accompanied the Synodal Pathway:

“What does God want from the Church in Ireland at this time?”

The Assembly will not answer that question once and for all. Discernment continues in dioceses, parishes, families, schools and communities, wherever Christians gather to listen to one another and to the Spirit, and then have the courage to act on what they hear.

Read the Working Document and find out more about the National Synodal Assembly

Archbishop Eamon and Archbishop John McDowell have recorded St Francis’ Prayer for Peace and invite people to pray and consider how we can be good neighbours to one another.

Archbishop John McDowell and Archbishop Eamon Martin are inviting people across Northern Ireland to pray the Prayer of St Francis this weekend. In a newly recorded video, the two archbishops narrate the prayer together.

Their invitation comes as the community faces the crisis at Drumcree. In a joint statement, the archbishops recognise that sincere views, painful histories and important issues are at stake. They ask a question that reaches beyond the immediate situation: How can we be good neighbours to each other?

They call on everyone to build patiently on the efforts already made to foster mutual trust and understanding between different traditions. They also affirm the importance of respecting the rule of law and using peaceful, democratic processes, while asking Christians to consider what is generous and neighbourly, and what helps build peace and the common good.

In their interview with The Irish Times, the archbishops spoke about the hurt left by past violence and the fragility of the present situation. They cautioned against language that inflames division and urged people to make space for a peaceful way forward.

The archbishops call for an urgent, constructive, inclusive and reconciling initiative to help find a way through the crisis. They acknowledge their own failings and say they feel deeply the concerns of people in Drumcree and the wider community. They remain willing to help guide people towards peace and a better future for all.

The Prayer of St Francis asks for the grace to bring love where there is hatred, pardon where there is offence, and hope where there is despair. It offers a way to pray, and a challenge to live: to let love of God and neighbour shape our words and actions.

Watch the video and join Archbishop McDowell and Archbishop Martin in praying for peace, healing and reconciliation.

More than eight hundred years ago, a young Francis of Assisi knelt in prayer before the Cross of San Damiano and heard the words: “Go, rebuild my Church.”

At first, Francis thought he was being asked to repair the small, crumbling chapel in which he was praying. In time, he came to understand that Christ was asking something far deeper of him: to help renew the Church through a life shaped by the Gospel, by peace, simplicity and love for the poor.

That image lies at the heart of Archbishop Eamon Martin’s new pastoral letter, Go, Rebuild My Church, which will be read at Masses across the Archdiocese of Armagh this weekend.

In the letter, Archbishop Eamon asks what those words might mean for the Church here and now. He connects that question directly with the Diocesan Congress on Youth, Family and Faith held in March 2026, where people from across the Archdiocese gathered to pray, listen and discern together. Young people, families, clergy, religious, teachers and parishioners spoke about faith and belonging, prayer and family life, formation, liturgy, communication, and the challenges facing faith today.

The Congress was never intended to stand alone as a single event. It formed part of a much longer process of listening and discernment, and the pastoral letter now marks the beginning of the next phase: putting its fruits into practice.

Archbishop Eamon makes clear that renewal cannot simply mean creating more programmes or maintaining existing structures. Like St Francis, the Church must begin again from Christ. In a world often marked by division, loneliness and fragmentation, the call is to become a Church gathered by Christ and sent out again with hope, reconciliation and a renewed sense of mission.

There is realism in the letter too. Archbishop Eamon acknowledges tiredness and uncertainty within the Church, the wounds still in need of healing, changing patterns of family life, fewer vocations and declining participation in the sacraments. Yet he insists that these realities do not lessen the missionary call. Christ continues to call the Church in Ireland to bring the Hope and Joy of the Gospel into the brokenness of the world. 

That call belongs to the whole People of God.

Through Baptism and Confirmation, every Christian shares responsibility for the life and mission of the Church. The pastoral letter therefore does not place the work of renewal solely in diocesan structures, clergy or committees. It invites families, parishes, schools, young people and communities throughout the Archdiocese to recognise the gifts already among them and to consider how those gifts might serve the Gospel more fully.

To help give shape to the next phase, five missionary pathways have emerged from the discernment following the Congress:

• deepening our encounter with Christ and renewing prayer in homes, parishes and personal life;
• strengthening formation for intentional and missionary discipleship;
• renewing accompaniment of young people and families;
• renewing liturgy, welcome and belonging;
• and strengthening communication, evangelisation, invitation and digital mission, opening new doors to encounter. 

These are not five separate projects, nor is every parish expected to do everything at once. Rather, they offer a framework through which local communities can begin asking what is realistic, what is already bearing fruit and what concrete actions might help the vision of the Congress take deeper root.

Further resources and practical guidance will follow in the coming days, with regional gatherings planned to help parishes and communities consider what supports and actions may be needed. Archbishop Eamon stresses the importance of listening carefully to different local realities, recognising existing gifts, supporting one another across parish boundaries and identifying achievable steps. 

The image of St Francis returns at the close of the letter.

Francis began by rebuilding a small chapel. Gradually, he discovered that Christ was asking for much more: his heart, his life and his whole self in service of the Gospel.  The same call now comes to us.

“In a fragmented world, Christ gathers.  In a weary Church, Christ calls us: ‘Go, rebuild my Church.’” 

The task ahead will not be accomplished through structures alone. It will grow through prayer, conversion, courage, generosity and a willingness to begin, sometimes in small ways, where we are.

The Diocesan Congress asked what kind of Church Christ is calling us to become.  Archbishop Eamon’s pastoral letter now asks us to begin living the answer.

CLICK HERE to read the pastoral Letter

Read Congress Report Here

Photos of the Congress

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Joint statement by Archbishop Eamon Martin and Archbishop John McDowell

As discussions continue around the situation at Drumcree, Archbishop Eamon Martin and Archbishop John McDowell have issued a further joint statement inviting people across both Christian traditions to pray for peace and reconciliation.

With the Feast of Saint Francis of Assisi approaching on 4 October, the Archbishops encourage clergy, parishes, families and individuals to include the well-known Prayer of Saint Francis in their worship and personal prayers this weekend, asking that each of us may become an instrument of God’s peace in our communities.

Text of the joint Statement by Archbishop Eamon Martin and Archbishop John McDowell

Following on from our joint statement last Sunday, and in light of the ongoing situation and discussions around Drumcree, as we approach the time of year when we remember Saint Francis of Assisi on his Feast Day (4 October), we are encouraging our clergy and people to include the well known prayer of Saint Francis in Sunday services and Masses, in family prayers and in private devotions over the weekend.

“Lord, make me an instrument of your peace.
Where there is hatred, let me bring love.
Where there is offence, let me bring pardon.
Where there is discord, let me bring union.
Where there is error, let me bring truth.
Where there is doubt, let me bring faith.
Where there is despair, let me bring hope.
Where there is darkness, let me bring your light.
Where there is sadness, let me bring joy.
O Lord, grant that I may not so much seek
to be consoled as to console,
to be understood as to understand,
to be loved as to love,
for it is in giving that one receives,
it is in self-forgetting that one finds,
it is in forgiving that one is forgiven,
it is in dying that one awakens to eternal life. 
Amen.”

Archbishop Eamon Martin:  “Who has the power to call the current conversation about AI, and whose voice is still missing from the room?”

Today in Saint Patrick’s College, Maynooth, voices from across Church, public life, education, technology, healthcare, law, media and wider society gathered for the Living Magnifica Humanitas conference, reflecting on the opportunities and challenges presented by Artificial Intelligence.

Opening the conference, Archbishop Eamon Martin reflected on Pope Leo XIV’s encyclical Magnifica Humanitas and its invitation to ask not simply what AI can do, but what its development means for the human person, human dignity, responsibility and the kind of society we are creating.

He invited those gathered to consider a particularly important question:

“Who has the power to call the current conversation about AI, and whose voice is still missing from the room?”

Archbishop Eamon emphasised that the Church does not claim to have technical answers to every question raised by AI. Rather, it seeks to contribute to the conversation by keeping human dignity, conscience, relationship, responsibility and the common good at its heart.

Opening address by Archbishop Martin at the ‘Living Magnifica Humanitas‘ conference in Maynooth

It is only four months since Pope Leo XIV published his first encyclical letter, Magnifica Humanitas: On the Protection of the Human Person in the Age of Artificial Intelligence.  And it has certainly sparked a worldwide conversation.

Artificial intelligence is already impacting and shaping our personal lives, workplaces, schools and communities; our hospitals, public services, economies and democracies.  People are asking what Artificial Intelligence will mean for their children, their work, their privacy and freedoms, their relationships and their future.

Magnifica Humanitas is essentially an invitation from Pope Leo to reflection and dialogue.  It asks, not just: ‘What can AI do for us?’, but more profound questions like: ‘What kind of people are we becoming through AI, and what kind of world are we building?’

At today’s ‘Living Magnifica Humanitas’ conference, we are responding to Pope Leo’s invitation.  We have gathered a range of voices: parents, students and teachers, clergy and religious, industry experts, politicians and regulators, academics, media and leaders from the medical, legal, finance, military and charity sectors.

Our gathering is an opportunity to share our personal thoughts and reactions, but more importantly, it provides a space to listen to one another, to learn from different perspectives, and to discern together how we might respond to the opportunities and challenges of AI for today and tomorrow.

The Church does not claim to have a technical answer to every AI question, but she does offer ethical principles to the debate over AI.  The Church has faced technological revolutions before.  Way back in 1891, Pope Leo XIII wrote about “rerum novarum” – the “new things” – in other words, the innovations of his day.  In our times, Pope Leo XIV readily accepts that “over the centuries, technological development has significantly improved the living conditions of humanity.  At the same time,” he says, “each phase of progress has also revealed the ambiguity of tools that can cause harm when not oriented toward the Good.”

From Ireland’s point of view, the development of Artificial Intelligence is not an abstract issue or something happening far away.   AI is being hosted, shaped, governed and developed here on this island.  Back in May, I invited leaders across society, and Church, in Ireland to take up the challenges of this encyclical with seriousness and courage.  I suggested that we must ask together: ‘What responsibilities do governments, companies and citizens have in shaping ethical AI on the island of Ireland, and beyond?  Does AI serve human persons or, instead, tend to dehumanise or even aim to replace them?  In an AI environment, how do we defend the dignity of workers and every human person, especially the most vulnerable?’

The Church as a convenor of conversation
In preparing Magnifica Humanitas, Pope Leo listened.  He listened to scientists, engineers, political leaders, teachers and parents.  He also wanted to hear those whose voices can disappear when a so-called “technocratic paradigm” reigns.  At the launch of his encyclical letter in May, Pope Leo said, ‘What a great sign of hope that, with our differences, we can listen to one another.’  He went on to say that together we can, “discern the major questions of our time, and so, the future of humanity’ (Address 25 May 2026).

Pope Leo knew that the Church has a capacity to convene conversations across disciplines, interests, generations and experiences.  Clearly scientists and developers need to be at the table.  So do philosophers, theologians and ethicists.  But the conversation also needs teachers, parents and young people; workers whose employment may change; people living with disability; artists and communicators; those experiencing isolation; and those who will live with decisions made by algorithms without ever having had a voice in designing them.

Pope Leo says explicitly, ‘Communities and intermediary organizations must not be reduced to passive recipients of decisions made elsewhere; they must be able to contribute to discernment and oversight’ (MH 108).

So perhaps one of the questions we might keep in mind this morning is: ‘Who has the power to call the current conversation about AI, and whose voice is still missing from the room?’

In genuine human conversation and dialogue, something can emerge between us that neither of us possessed before the encounter – not because our differences have disappeared, but because we have entered into relationship through them.  Human conversation can be a threshold and gateway that opens the possibility of something completely new – we can even change our mind (see Pope Leo XIV, Magnifica Humanitas, 8).

Interestingly, Pope Leo makes an important distinction between human, and AI, interaction: Artificial intelligences “may imitate language, behaviour and analytical skills, or even simulate empathy and understanding.”  But, he adds: AI lacks “the affective, relational and spiritual perspective through which human beings grow in wisdom.” (MH 99)

Defending Human Dignity
At the heart of Pope Leo’s encyclical lies the conviction that human dignity deserves protection at all times.  Human beings are created in the image and likeness of God.  At the Incarnation God came among us with a human voice, a human face and a human heart.  In today’s world of screens, artificial voices and digital masks, the Church therefore defends the dignity of each human person, with a real face and authentic voice, who cannot be reduced to data to be copied or manipulated.

AI can do remarkable things.  It can sort through vast amounts of information, recognise patterns, and create words, images and voices that feel very real.  It can even at times mimic human behaviour and qualities, but AI does not have a conscience.  It cannot care, love, suffer, forgive, pray or hope as humans can, nor can it be truly “wise”.  As Pope Leo puts it, “artificial intelligences do not experience life, do not possess a body, do not experience joy and pain, and do not know from within what love, work and responsibility mean.”

Much contemporary AI works through statistical and probabilistic processes.  It learns patterns from what has already occurred and estimates what is most likely to follow.  But no past completely determines a human future.  No human person can be reduced to their dataset.  In fact, conversion, forgiveness, vocation, grace and freedom all disrupt probability and prediction.  The Gospel asks: “Who might this person yet become?”  The Creator Spirit asks, “What might come into being which we could not have predicted from what has gone before?”

That is why Pope Leo warns against surrendering decisions to systems which cannot know “the hope that people are able to change” (Magnifica Humanitas, 102).

AI, Moral Agency and the Temptation to Surrender Human Judgement
This brings us to one of the most important contemporary questions raised by the emergence of AI: “What happens when we entrust questions of life and death to systems whose mode of ‘judgement’ consists ultimately in computation, optimisation and rule-following?”

Pope Leo XIV places this question at the centre of Magnifica Humanitas.  He insists that AI must remain under the direction of human intelligence, conscience and freedom, and that human beings must continue to determine both its use and its limits (Magnifica Humanitas, 97).

Pope Leo is clear about why this matters.  AI may surpass us in speed and computational capacity, but it does not experience the world as a human person does.  AI does not suffer, love, mature through human relationships, or know responsibility from within (MH, 99).

Pope Leo addresses this question directly in relation to war.  He cautions that autonomous weapon systems can make war appear more feasible while placing it increasingly beyond human control.  He rejects the idea that an AI might become an “artificial moral agent.”  Moral judgement, he says, cannot be reduced to calculation.  It involves conscience, personal responsibility and recognition of the other as a person.  His conclusion is clear: lethal or irreversible decisions cannot be entrusted to artificial systems, and “no algorithm can make war morally acceptable” (MH 197-199).

In this regard, the risks of AI do not arise only from system failure.  They also arise from those who might intentionally misuse powerful AI systems.  Criminal networks, hostile states, extremist groups and other malicious actors could choose to use AI to scale cyberattacks, deception, disinformation and the exploitation of digital vulnerabilities.

Pope Leo therefore warns that we cannot be satisfied with the “moralization of machines”, or the alignment of AI with supposedly human values (MH197).  We must also ask, “Whose morality is being embedded in the system and whether those ethical frameworks remain open to public scrutiny and shared discernment?”  Otherwise, the moral vision of a small number of designers and institutions risk becoming the invisible infrastructure within which everyone else must live.

That is why, at the presentation of the encyclical last May, Pope Leo put the matter even more succinctly: AI needs to be “disarmed”, he said, freed from those logics that turn technology into an instrument of domination, exclusion and death.

Conclusion
As we begin our reflection today, it is worth considering that the more powerful our rule-governed machines become, the more urgently we need wise human beings to oversee them, human beings who are formed in prudence and virtue.  It is not that we should fear technology, or reject it.  Instead we must ensure that technological power remains embedded within human responsibility, conscience, relationship and the common good.

The danger is not simply that machines may become increasingly powerful.  It is that human beings may gradually surrender to AI the very capacities that make genuinely human judgement possible.

The questions before us today are immense, not only about who is building, controlling or benefiting from artificial intelligence, but also who is convening the human conversation around it, whose voices are being heard, and what understanding of the human person is guiding us? As Pope Leo XIV himself put it on the day he launched his encyclical: “Let’s not fear artificial intelligence but constantly keep the question of the human in play” … “Let us protect our magnificent humanity.”

Video Contributions to the Conference

🎥 Watch Bishop Paul Tighe’s contribution

https://youtu.be/OBu_RFeaQCw

🎥 Watch Professor Anna Rowlands’ contribution

https://youtu.be/QvMYBGCi4_Q

As Pope Leo reminds us: “Let’s not fear artificial intelligence but constantly keep the question of the human in play.”

Contributors to the ‘Living Magnifica Humanitas‘ conference were: Seminarian Mark McDonnell; Archbishop Eamon Martin; Archbishop John McDowell, Church of Ireland Primate of All Ireland; Ms Niamh Smyth TD, Minister for AI; Ms Emma Redmond, Head of OpenAI Ireland; Professor Stephen Williams, formerly QUB; Dr Lisa Cunningham, HSE Consultant in Emergency Medicine; Dr Barry Scannell, Partner at William Fry corporate law firm; and Ms Ciara O’Brien, business and technology journalist with The Irish Times.  The panel moderators were Mr Alan Hynes-Cendrzak and Ms Natalie Doherty.