Vatican theological commission warns of replacing God with 'a world governed by machines'; National Catholic Reporter, March 5, 2026

COURTNEY MARES, National Catholic Reporter; Vatican theological commission warns of replacing God with 'a world governed by machines'

"The Vatican's International Theological Commission has warned that if humanity places total trust in technology in a "world ruled by machines," it risks replacing the "living God" with a counterfeit "virtual God."

The assessment came in a sweeping new document, published on March 4, examining how artificial intelligence, transhumanism and other technological developments can pose profound risks to human identity and dignity. The document seeks to propose a response rooted in Christian anthropology and the Gospel.

The 48-page document, titled, "Quo vadis, humanitas? Thinking about Christian anthropology in light of some scenarios for the future of humanity," was published in Italian and Spanish after being approved by Pope Leo XIV. Its Latin title — meaning "Where are you going, humanity?" — echoes the question tradition holds was put to St. Peter before his crucifixion in Rome.

"At this juncture in the 21st century, the human family is faced with questions so radical that they threaten its very existence as we have known it," the document says.

"The eruption of scientific and technical development unprecedented in the history of the planet must be accompanied by a corresponding growth in responsibility that directs progress toward the good of human beings, because they are today exposed to risks never imagined before."

The document, written by a subcommission that met between 2022 and 2025 and approved unanimously at the ITC's 2025 plenary session, was written to mark the 60th anniversary of Gaudium et Spes, the Second Vatican Council's landmark Pastoral Constitution on the Church in the Modern World."

Death is not the end! From the new robot Walt Disney to Mountainhead, movies are fuelled by immortality; The Guardian, June 6, 2025

 Stuart Heritage, The Guardian; Death is not the end! From the new robot Walt Disney to Mountainhead, movies are fuelled by immortality

"The catalyst is the recently announced Disneyland show Walt Disney – A Magical Life, which will feature as its star attraction an animatronic recreation of Walt Disney. This, according to Josh D’Amaro, Disney experiences chair, will give visitors a sense of “what it would have been like to be in Walt’s presence”. However, Disney’s granddaughter Joanna Miller is convinced that this is not what Disney the man would have wanted. In a Facebook post that was stinging enough to earn her an audience with the Disney CEO, Bob Iger, Miller said Disney was “dehumanising” her grandfather. “The idea of a robotic Grampa to give the public a feeling of who the living man was just makes no sense,” she wrote. “It would be an impostor, people are not replaceable. You could never get the casualness of his talking, interacting with the camera, [or] his excitement to show and tell people about what is new at the park. You cannot add life to one empty of a soul or essence of the man.”

As recently as a decade ago, this would have been the stuff of bad science fiction – a woman worried that a multinational corporation is bringing a dead relative back to life against his wishes, like a warped nonconsensual Westworld – but no more. As an entertainment concept, post-humanism feels worryingly current.

After all, the subject forms the backbone of Jesse Armstrong’s new film Mountainhead. Set in a world of bro-y tech billionaires that is only half a degree removed from our own – one in which AI-created misinformation has already caused society to start to erode – the inciting force of all the dark chaos that unfolds is Steve Carell’s character, who finds himself with a pressing need and an increasingly tight deadline to become transhuman. In other words, his body is failing and only technology can help him ward off the inevitability of death.

And this is no flight of fancy. As recently as this year, scholars have been sounding alarms about Neuralink, Elon Musk’s brain implant company. In a Politico article illuminating the growing tension between the religious right and Musk’s views on extending human life beyond normal mortality, Alexander Thomas, of the University of East London, pointed out that transhumanism ultimately means that “the 8 billion people alive today simply don’t matter – genocide and wars are mere ripples, as long as some survive, and Musk is the one that needs to survive”."