Italian
The third edition of the “Whole Human” Festival has concluded in Rome, at the Pio Sodalizio dei Piceni, an intense two-day event of meetings promoted by the network “Ditelo sui tetti”, chaired by Domenico Menorello
ROME. At the center of the panels, the need to bring back to the forefront of public discussion the person, birth rate, and family, going beyond ideologies and addressing the challenges posed by modernity and technological innovation.
Among the most significant moments of the event is the speech by the Vatican Secretary of State, Cardinal Pietro Parolin, who participated in a debate focused on the impact of artificial intelligence, engaging with Undersecretary Alfredo Mantovano.
The Cardinal issued a clear warning about the risks of modern technologies, emphasizing how they threaten to profoundly alter the perception of human anthropology. The new technologies, Parolin warned, “make the line of demarcation between what is human and what is inhuman more opaque, with a high risk of alienating the person”. In such a challenging context, the Secretary of State pointed to the example of Saint Francis of Assisi as a fundamental beacon for our times, as the Saint “achieved the miracle of friendship with existence and reality”.
On the same topic, Undersecretary Mantovano expressed strong concern about “the claim of technology to become a criterion, to reach eugenics, defining what is waste”
The greeting and encouragement of Pope Leo XIV
The works of the Festival — titled this year “On the Side of Creatures: Welcome, My Sister Life!” — have been accompanied by the warm thoughts and live appreciation of Pope Leo XIV. Through an official letter signed by Cardinal Parolin on behalf of the Secretariat of State, the Pontiff expressed gratitude for an initiative aimed at deepening the value of human life in our time.
The Holy Father expressed hope that the event, illuminated by the eighth centenary of the death of Saint Francis of Assisi, “will contribute to a more mature awareness of the responsibility that awaits every Christian in promoting and defending life in all its phases and conditions, with special attention to situations of fragility.” Referring to the spiritual legacy of Francis of Assisi, the Pope encouraged participants to continue their commitment to “the building of a society founded on respect for life and human dignity.”
