neighbor

Miami archbishop, president of Society of St. Vincent de Paul USA delve into Dilexi te #Catholic “The Christian is supposed to answer the question ‘Who is my neighbor?’, and the answer is: ‘The one who needs me,’” said Miami Archbishop Thomas Wenski during an Oct. 9, 2025, press conference in Miami. / Credit: Emily Chaffins/CNA Miami, Florida, Oct 10, 2025 / 07:00 am (CNA). “There’s somebody here who wants to talk to you,” the receptionist said to John Berry.Now the president of the Society of St. Vincent de Paul USA (SVdp USA), Berry was serving the Georgia branch when a woman arrived at the office with a check. The stranger wanted to support the organization’s goals of helping people overcome poverty. Her donation was large, but her reason for donating was even more astounding.“A number of years ago, I was down on my luck, and you all helped me,” she said. “I’m in a position now where I can help you.”Berry recalled the encounter while pondering Pope Leo XIV’s first apostolic exhortation, Dilexi te, published Oct. 9, centering on compassion for the poor. The exhortation’s introductory phrase — from which the title is derived — is “I have loved you,” from Revelation 3:9.Indeed, the first American pope’s message is about the necessary exchange of love between the poor and those who serve, as mirrored by Berry and the donor.Archbishop Thomas Wenski of Miami recognized the major papal milestone by holding a press conference Thursday to unpack Pope Leo’s words. He summarized the pope’s message: “We are to love the poor, not to blame them for their poverty but to assist them so they can discover and own their … dignity as human beings.”During the press conference at the Archdiocese of Miami pastoral center, the archbishop spoke about one of the key ideas in Dilexi te, “accompaniment,” which informs the SVdP donor’s story.“Accompaniment would be treating them as a brother or sister and not lording it over [them],” Wenski said. Otherwise, “they themselves feel offended in their dignity, and then what we’re doing is not so much trying to help them but [instead] trying to make us feel good.”On the contrary, accompaniment can be far from the feel good.“Accompaniment means that we roll up our sleeves and work with them, and oftentimes when doing so we’re not going to feel good because it’s going to require a lot of sweat and tears,” the archbishop added. Indeed, SVdP USA strives to embody the Catholic mindset of accompaniment, as volunteers dialogue with impoverished families and individuals to tailor the method of aid to their specific situations. Some of SVdP USA’s offerings include monetary aid, food pantries, free pharmacy programs, shelters, clinics, and education centers.Society of St. Vincent de Paul pharmacist Kellie Elisar (left) and team at the St. Vincent de Paul of Baton Rouge Charitable Pharmacy on June 24, 2025. Credit: Photo courtesy of Society of St. Vincent de Paul“We’re not the kind of agency where somebody who’s in need walks in the door, fills out a form, slips it under a hole in a glass wall, and then next thing you know, somebody says, ‘OK, we’ll pay your bill’ or hands over a box of food,” Berry explained. “Ours is a sit-down conversation, a personal encounter, where we talk with people and create a solution together. We find out from them what are their needs, what are the things that are challenging them.”In the Archdiocese of Miami, Catholic Legal Services represents immigrants in need, and people struggling with the English language can attend parish-based ESL (English as a second language) classes.As Wenski put it: “The Christian is supposed to answer the question ‘Who is my neighbor?’, and the answer is: ‘The one who needs me.’”“It is significant because these first apostolic exhortations tend to be the putting forth of a strategic plan for the priorities of the pope for his pontificate,” he added.Both the archbishop and Berry pointed out that Pope Leo’s missionary outreach in Peru likely informs his perspective on the poor within the exhortation as someone who walked the walk. “This is his heart,” Berry said.
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Miami archbishop, president of Society of St. Vincent de Paul USA delve into Dilexi te #Catholic “The Christian is supposed to answer the question ‘Who is my neighbor?’, and the answer is: ‘The one who needs me,’” said Miami Archbishop Thomas Wenski during an Oct. 9, 2025, press conference in Miami. / Credit: Emily Chaffins/CNA Miami, Florida, Oct 10, 2025 / 07:00 am (CNA). “There’s somebody here who wants to talk to you,” the receptionist said to John Berry.Now the president of the Society of St. Vincent de Paul USA (SVdp USA), Berry was serving the Georgia branch when a woman arrived at the office with a check. The stranger wanted to support the organization’s goals of helping people overcome poverty. Her donation was large, but her reason for donating was even more astounding.“A number of years ago, I was down on my luck, and you all helped me,” she said. “I’m in a position now where I can help you.”Berry recalled the encounter while pondering Pope Leo XIV’s first apostolic exhortation, Dilexi te, published Oct. 9, centering on compassion for the poor. The exhortation’s introductory phrase — from which the title is derived — is “I have loved you,” from Revelation 3:9.Indeed, the first American pope’s message is about the necessary exchange of love between the poor and those who serve, as mirrored by Berry and the donor.Archbishop Thomas Wenski of Miami recognized the major papal milestone by holding a press conference Thursday to unpack Pope Leo’s words. He summarized the pope’s message: “We are to love the poor, not to blame them for their poverty but to assist them so they can discover and own their … dignity as human beings.”During the press conference at the Archdiocese of Miami pastoral center, the archbishop spoke about one of the key ideas in Dilexi te, “accompaniment,” which informs the SVdP donor’s story.“Accompaniment would be treating them as a brother or sister and not lording it over [them],” Wenski said. Otherwise, “they themselves feel offended in their dignity, and then what we’re doing is not so much trying to help them but [instead] trying to make us feel good.”On the contrary, accompaniment can be far from the feel good.“Accompaniment means that we roll up our sleeves and work with them, and oftentimes when doing so we’re not going to feel good because it’s going to require a lot of sweat and tears,” the archbishop added. Indeed, SVdP USA strives to embody the Catholic mindset of accompaniment, as volunteers dialogue with impoverished families and individuals to tailor the method of aid to their specific situations. Some of SVdP USA’s offerings include monetary aid, food pantries, free pharmacy programs, shelters, clinics, and education centers.Society of St. Vincent de Paul pharmacist Kellie Elisar (left) and team at the St. Vincent de Paul of Baton Rouge Charitable Pharmacy on June 24, 2025. Credit: Photo courtesy of Society of St. Vincent de Paul“We’re not the kind of agency where somebody who’s in need walks in the door, fills out a form, slips it under a hole in a glass wall, and then next thing you know, somebody says, ‘OK, we’ll pay your bill’ or hands over a box of food,” Berry explained. “Ours is a sit-down conversation, a personal encounter, where we talk with people and create a solution together. We find out from them what are their needs, what are the things that are challenging them.”In the Archdiocese of Miami, Catholic Legal Services represents immigrants in need, and people struggling with the English language can attend parish-based ESL (English as a second language) classes.As Wenski put it: “The Christian is supposed to answer the question ‘Who is my neighbor?’, and the answer is: ‘The one who needs me.’”“It is significant because these first apostolic exhortations tend to be the putting forth of a strategic plan for the priorities of the pope for his pontificate,” he added.Both the archbishop and Berry pointed out that Pope Leo’s missionary outreach in Peru likely informs his perspective on the poor within the exhortation as someone who walked the walk. “This is his heart,” Berry said.

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“The Christian is supposed to answer the question ‘Who is my neighbor?’, and the answer is: ‘The one who needs me,’” said Miami Archbishop Thomas Wenski during an Oct. 9, 2025, press conference in Miami. / Credit: Emily Chaffins/CNA

Miami, Florida, Oct 10, 2025 / 07:00 am (CNA).

“There’s somebody here who wants to talk to you,” the receptionist said to John Berry.

Now the president of the Society of St. Vincent de Paul USA (SVdp USA), Berry was serving the Georgia branch when a woman arrived at the office with a check. The stranger wanted to support the organization’s goals of helping people overcome poverty. Her donation was large, but her reason for donating was even more astounding.

“A number of years ago, I was down on my luck, and you all helped me,” she said. “I’m in a position now where I can help you.”

Berry recalled the encounter while pondering Pope Leo XIV’s first apostolic exhortation, Dilexi te, published Oct. 9, centering on compassion for the poor. The exhortation’s introductory phrase — from which the title is derived — is “I have loved you,” from Revelation 3:9.

Indeed, the first American pope’s message is about the necessary exchange of love between the poor and those who serve, as mirrored by Berry and the donor.

Archbishop Thomas Wenski of Miami recognized the major papal milestone by holding a press conference Thursday to unpack Pope Leo’s words. He summarized the pope’s message: “We are to love the poor, not to blame them for their poverty but to assist them so they can discover and own their … dignity as human beings.”

During the press conference at the Archdiocese of Miami pastoral center, the archbishop spoke about one of the key ideas in Dilexi te, “accompaniment,” which informs the SVdP donor’s story.

“Accompaniment would be treating them as a brother or sister and not lording it over [them],” Wenski said. Otherwise, “they themselves feel offended in their dignity, and then what we’re doing is not so much trying to help them but [instead] trying to make us feel good.”

On the contrary, accompaniment can be far from the feel good.

“Accompaniment means that we roll up our sleeves and work with them, and oftentimes when doing so we’re not going to feel good because it’s going to require a lot of sweat and tears,” the archbishop added. 

Indeed, SVdP USA strives to embody the Catholic mindset of accompaniment, as volunteers dialogue with impoverished families and individuals to tailor the method of aid to their specific situations. Some of SVdP USA’s offerings include monetary aid, food pantries, free pharmacy programs, shelters, clinics, and education centers.

Society of St. Vincent de Paul pharmacist Kellie Elisar (left) and team at the St. Vincent de Paul of Baton Rouge Charitable Pharmacy on June 24, 2025. Credit: Photo courtesy of Society of St. Vincent de Paul
Society of St. Vincent de Paul pharmacist Kellie Elisar (left) and team at the St. Vincent de Paul of Baton Rouge Charitable Pharmacy on June 24, 2025. Credit: Photo courtesy of Society of St. Vincent de Paul

“We’re not the kind of agency where somebody who’s in need walks in the door, fills out a form, slips it under a hole in a glass wall, and then next thing you know, somebody says, ‘OK, we’ll pay your bill’ or hands over a box of food,” Berry explained. “Ours is a sit-down conversation, a personal encounter, where we talk with people and create a solution together. We find out from them what are their needs, what are the things that are challenging them.”

In the Archdiocese of Miami, Catholic Legal Services represents immigrants in need, and people struggling with the English language can attend parish-based ESL (English as a second language) classes.

As Wenski put it: “The Christian is supposed to answer the question ‘Who is my neighbor?’, and the answer is: ‘The one who needs me.’”

“It is significant because these first apostolic exhortations tend to be the putting forth of a strategic plan for the priorities of the pope for his pontificate,” he added.

Both the archbishop and Berry pointed out that Pope Leo’s missionary outreach in Peru likely informs his perspective on the poor within the exhortation as someone who walked the walk. 

“This is his heart,” Berry said.

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Catholic University of America panel explores how Christians should think about AI
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Catholic University of America panel explores how Christians should think about AI

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From left: Ross Douthat, media fellow at the Institute for Human Ecology; Will Wilson, CEO of AI company Antithesis; Father Michael Baggot, LC, professor of bioethics at the Pontifical Athenaeum Regina Apostolorum in Rome; and Brian J.A. Boyd, director for the Center for Ethics and Economic Justice at Loyola University New Orleans discuss AI and the Church on Sept. 23, 2025, at The Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C. / Credit: Tessa Gervasini/CNA

Washington, D.C., Sep 25, 2025 / 07:00 am (CNA).

The Catholic University of America (CUA) hosted a panel this week to discuss how Christians should think about the developing technology surrounding artificial intelligence (AI).

The Sept. 23 panel was hosted by CUA’s Institute for Human Ecology, which works to identify the economic, cultural, and social conditions vital for human flourishing. The group discussed the threats posed by AI, the future of the technology, and the Church’s place in the conversation. 

Ross Douthat, media fellow at the Institute for Human Ecology, led the discussion between Father Michael Baggot, LC, professor of bioethics at the Pontifical Athenaeum Regina Apostolorum in Rome; Will Wilson, CEO of AI company Antithesis; and Brian J.A. Boyd, director for the Center for Ethics and Economic Justice at Loyola University New Orleans.

Douthat asked the panelists what they each believe to be the greatest threat of the emerging technology as it poses new challenges to the defense of human dignity, justice, and labor.

According to Boyd, the potential loss of human connection is the most prominent threat of AI. He said: “To be human is to be created in and for relationships of love — by love of God. Our nature is made to be receptive to grace.”

AI becomes an issue if “our main relationship and reference point is talking to a computer rather than to humans,” Boyd said. “I think that is an existential threat, and something worth discussing.”

“If we’re habituated to look at the screen before we look at our neighbor … and AI is [the] constant reference point, it will make habits of prayer much more difficult to include. It will make it harder to learn to listen to the voice of God, because the answer is always in your pocket.”

Baggot said his greatest concern is that “artificial intimacy is going to distract us from, and deter us from, the deep interpersonal bonds that are central to our happiness and our flourishing.”

“Companies now grip not only our minds but also are capturing our affections,” Baggot said. “We can all read about these tragic cases of exploitation and manipulation that are only going to continue unless we put proper guardrails in place and also provide the information that allows us to have the kind of deep interpersonal relationships we were made for.”

While many people worry that AI could create “mass unemployment,” Wilson said he disagrees: “I think that this is a very silly fear because human desires and human wants are infinite, and therefore, we always find new things for people to do.”

Rather, Wilson shared his concern that humans will no longer create their own ideas and will lose their intelligence and knowledge.

“The trouble with AI is even if it’s not actually intelligent, it does a very good simulacrum of intelligence, and it’s very tempting to use it to substitute for human intelligence,” Wilson said. “It’s very possible that we’re entering a world where very soon any cognitive labor, any reason, [or] any thought will be a luxury.”

Catholic AI 

While there are dangers to AI, Baggot addressed the positive aspects the tool can offer, highlighting the benefits of Catholic AI companies. 

“I’ve been privileged to work on the Scholarly Advisory Board of Magisterium AI, which is basically a Catholic answer engine that’s very narrowly trained on reliable documents, magisterial documents, [and] theological texts,” Baggot said. 

Magisterium AI is a “system designed to give people reliable responses to their questions about the Catholic faith,” Baggot explained. “This is appealing to Catholics who want to go deeper, but it’s also quite appealing to people who have never really had the chance, or aren’t quite ready, to speak to another human person about their curiosities regarding Catholicism.”

Baggot explained that creators of the technology work hard to keep it from being “anthropomorphic” to avoid users confusing the AI with actual connection. He said: “We do not want people having an intimate relationship with it.”

While Magisterium AI can provide useful information, Baggot acknowledged that it is not a tool for spiritual direction. He said: “Spiritual direction … should be with another living, breathing human being who actually has insight into human experience [and] who can develop a relationship of real empathy and real compassion.”

The Church’s place in AI 

The panelists had differing viewpoints about the Church’s place in AI and how Christians should approach it. Wilson said he believes “the conversation about where the technology is going and what we’re going to do with it is happening among people who do not care … what any Christian church has to say on the topic.”

“It’s actually a little hard to blame them because Christians have basically sacrificed their place at the forefront of science and technology, which is where we were in centuries past,” Wilson said.

“Control goes to those who can deploy the most capital, and capital gets allocated very fast to people who are able to deploy very efficiently. And by and large, those people are not Christians because Christians aren’t really trying.”

Baggot said that while AI does pose dangers, the Church “has a lot of insight and wisdom” that can help guide the conversation. “The Church is in a privileged position to leverage its incredible patrimony, its reflection on the human person, [and] human flourishing.” 

“The Church has reflected a lot about the meaning and value of work, the subjective value of work. It’s not just about economic efficiency, but it’s about how I use my own God-given talents to grow as a person and then also to serve others in intrinsically valuable activities.”

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Trump, Vance among those honoring Charlie Kirk’s Christian legacy 
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Trump, Vance among those honoring Charlie Kirk’s Christian legacy 

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Erika Kirk embraces U.S. President Donald Trump at the conclusion of the memorial service held for Charlie Kirk in Glendale, Arizona, on Sept. 21, 2025. / Credit: Joe Raedle/Getty Images

Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Sep 22, 2025 / 09:35 am (CNA).

President Donald Trump, Vice President JD Vance, Erika Kirk, and more than a dozen others gave speeches to honor the late Charlie Kirk at Sunday’s memorial service, highlighting his efforts to promote conservative values to young people and promote the Gospel on campus.

Some 90,000 people gathered for the memorial service at State Farm Stadium and an adjacent venue in Glendale, Arizona, on Sept. 21. Bishop Robert Barron, who had scheduled Kirk to come on his show, was among those in attendance.

Kirk, an evangelical Christian, was assassinated on Sept. 10 during an event at Utah Valley University while debating students on campus. At the time, Kirk was conversing with a young ideological opponent about transgenderism and gun violence. Prior to the question, he had been discussing his Christian faith with another questioner, something he often included in his conservative campus activism.

“What was even more important to Charlie than politics and service was the choice he made in the fifth grade — which he called the most important decision of his life — to become a Christian and a follower of his Savior Jesus Christ,” Trump, a self-identified nondenominational Christian, said during his speech.

Trump praised Kirk’s legacy of evangelizing the message of Christ and his activism to promote conservative values on campus, saying Kirk was “inspired by faith and his love of freedom” to establish the conservative campus organization Turning Point USA when he was just 18 years old.

“Charlie Kirk started with an idea only to change minds on college campuses and instead he ended up with a far greater achievement: changing history,” the president said. “… Today Charlie Kirk rests in heaven for all eternity. He has gone from speaking on campuses in Wisconsin to kneeling at the throne of God.”

Vance, a Catholic who often discussed theology with Kirk, spoke about Kirk’s devotion to honest debate in his campus activism, saying his “unshakable belief in the Gospel led him to see differences in opinion, not as battlefields to conquer but as waystations in the pursuit of truth.”

“He knew it was right to love others, your neighbor, your interlocutor, your enemy,” Vance said.
“But he also understood his duty to say what is right and what is wrong, to distinguish what is false from what is true.”

U.S. Vice President JD Vance speaks during the memorial service for slain conservative activist Charlie Kirk in Glendale, Arizona, on Sept. 21, 2025. Credit: Win McNamee/Getty Images
U.S. Vice President JD Vance speaks during the memorial service for slain conservative activist Charlie Kirk in Glendale, Arizona, on Sept. 21, 2025. Credit: Win McNamee/Getty Images

The vice president noted that even after death, Kirk’s message to defend life, to get married and start a family, and to follow Christ, continue to reach people. Vance said his own public appearances have been particularly influenced by Kirk after the assassination.

“I was telling somebody backstage that I always felt a little uncomfortable talking about my faith in public, as much as I love the Lord, as much as it was an important part of my life,” Vance told the crowd. “I’ve talked more about Jesus Christ in the past two weeks than I have my entire time in public life. And that is the undeniable legacy of the great Charlie Kirk. You know, he loved God and because he wanted to understand God’s creation and the men and women made in his image.”

Kirk’s widow forgives assassin

Kirk’s wife, Erika, said her husband’s devotion to Christ has influenced many Americans in the aftermath of the assassination.

“This past week, we saw people open a Bible for the first time in a decade, we saw people pray for the first time since they were children, we saw people go to a church service for the first time in their entire lives,” Erika Kirk said.

“Pray again, read the Bible again, go to Church next Sunday and the Sunday after that, and break free from the temptations and shackles of this world,” she urged the audience.

“Being a follower of Christ is not easy,” she continued. “It’s not supposed to be easy. Jesus said ‘if anyone would come after me, let him deny himself, take up his cross and follow me.’ He said he would be persecuted, he said we would be persecuted, and Charlie knew that and happily carried his cross all the way to the end.”

Erika Kirk said he had gone onto Utah Valley University’s campus to show people, especially young men, “a better path and a better life that was right there for the taking.” She added: “He wanted to save young men, just like the one who took his life.”

Appealing to the Gospel message, Erika Kirk also extended forgiveness to the man who shot her husband. 

“On the cross, our Savior said, ‘Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do,’” she said. “That man, that young man, I forgive him. I forgive him because it was what Christ did and is what Charlie would do. The answer to hate is not hate. The answer, we know from the Gospel, is love and always love. Love for our enemies and love for those who persecute us.”

‘I want to be remembered for courage for my faith’

Other speakers also highlighted Kirk’s emphasis on Christ in his campus activism. 

Donald Trump Jr. reminded the crowd that Kirk said just months before his death that if he were to die, “I want to be remembered for my courage for my faith.” 

“Those were not empty words,” Trump Jr. said. “Last week, Charlie joined a long line of courageous men and women who were martyred for what they believe.”

The country’s Health and Human Services secretary, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., a Catholic, said Kirk’s devotion to God modeled St. Francis of Assisi’s instruction to try to live one’s life in imitation of Christ.

“Charlie understood the great paradox: That it’s only by surrender to God that God’s power can flow into our lives and make us effective human beings,” Kennedy said. “Christ died at 33 years old, but he changed the trajectory of history. Charlie died at 31 years old, but because he had surrendered, he also now has changed the trajectory of history.” 

U.S. Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth similarly noted that Kirk “was a true believer,” one who understood that “Only Christ is King, our Lord and Savior.” 

“Our sins are washed away by the blood of Jesus,” Hegseth said. “Fear God and fear no man. That was Charlie Kirk.” 

Political commentator Tucker Carlson said Kirk was essentially “a Christian evangelist” who “was bringing the Gospel to the country.” 

“He also knew that politics wasn’t the final answer,” Carlson said. “It can’t answer the deepest questions, actually. That the only real solution is Jesus.”

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