With technology and artificial intelligence developing at such a rapid pace, religion and religious institutions have also been affected. Catholic Answers, a California-based Catholic advocacy and confessional group, took a big and quite ambitious step last April 23rd. Catholic Answers announced that they had developed an artificial intelligence priest they named “Father Justin”. The aim of the gray-bearded, bushy-browed Father Justin was to provide faithful and educational answers to questions about the Catholic faith. Named after St. Justin Martyr, a second-century apologist and apostate, Father Justin was intended to be an “authoritative but accessible” figure in support of parish priests and Catholic teaching. However, things did not go quite as planned. The artificial intelligence priest developed by Catholic Answers turned into a scandal by facing the reaction of the community.
Great Reaction to Artificial Intelligence Catholic Priest
As we mentioned, when “Father Justin” was introduced, the aim was to provide accurate information to Catholics at all hours and places. However, the character’s references to priests, addressing users as “my child” and stating that he could preside over the sacrament of marriage caused a great reaction from the community. As a result of this backlash, the character’s name was changed to simply “Justin” and the AI character began to be revised.
Christopher Check, President of Catholic Answers, stated that they heard the parishioners’ reactions and took their concerns seriously. For this reason, he said, a restructuring process was undertaken for “Father Justin” after the reactions. In order not to deviate from the original purpose of the artificial intelligence character, he explained that the character will be restructured and removed from the priest identity. In this process, it was emphasized that user feedback will also be taken into account. However, Check added that some malicious users are making a special effort to get such responses.
However, “Father Justin” has already caused controversy in the Catholic community and raised the perception that the use of technology in religious practice requires deep reflection. Catholic Answers said it is committed to learning from the incident and taking a more careful approach to how technology should be used in religious ministry.
Father Justin Excommunicated
Father Justin was excommunicated after his use was shut down following this scandal. But this incident could be a turning point in how technology should be used in religious practices. With the lessons to be learned from this incident, it seems that the Catholic community should adopt a more careful approach in future technology-based initiatives.
