When Pope Francis addresses for the first time to the faithful, after his election in 2013, Place Saint-Pierre is, for the first time after a conclave, filled with faithful immortalizing the scene with their iPhone. François, who died on Monday April 21, was the first pope elected to the era of the smartphone and generalization in the world of digital impacts.
He himself was not particularly keen on technology. Before his election, he used no email or social networks-the Twitter and Facebook accounts of the Papacy were created by his predecessor Benoît XVI. But François had understood the magnitude taken by internet in the daily life of all, and of the importance of this tool to communicate, especially with the youngest. From 2014, he participated in chats with young believers on Google Hangouts; In 2016, he opened an Instagram account and a YouTube channel dedicated to prayer in 2016; Also lends itself to “selfies”.
The smartphone and social networks were, under its pontificate, the source of multiple questions for Catholics. In 2019, François summarizes his position on the subject :: “” [La Toile] is an opportunity to promote meetings with others, but can also worsen our isolation, just like the canvas of a spider can trap us. »» He says he is concerned about the risks of cyberbullying, capturing personal data, disinformation, and especially notes that “Communities on social networks are not automatically real communities”in the Christian sense.
Use the technology “to unite and not to divide”
Despite these warnings, François said on several occasions that the Internet was “A gift from God”. As early as 2014, he called Catholics to be “Digital citizens” constructive and to make the network a solidarity tool. A message he repeated in April 2025, in a prayer calling to use new technologies “Wisely” :: “Let us pray that the use of new technologies does not replace human relations, but respects the dignity of people and helps to face the crises of our time. »»
It is necessary, he estimated then, “Use technology to unite and not to divide. To help the poor. To improve the lives of patients and people with disabilities. Use technology to take care of our common house ”. And keep in mind that “The screen makes us forget that, behind it, there are real people who breathe, laugh and cry.”
Messages he has been able to try to pass through digital companies directly, which have paraded to the Vatican over the years. In 2016, Mark Zuckerberg offered him a drone modelwhile in 2022 Elon Musk brought together four of his children to Pope Francis.
It is also under his pontificate that the first ethical questions emerged on artificial intelligence. To his defending body, he is also the subject in 2023 of one of the first “photos” generated by artificial intelligence (AI) become viral: the image, on which he appears dressed in an improbable down jacket, goes around social networks, sowing trouble in Internet users well to determine whether it is a real photo or a “fake”.
The Vatican, under the aegis of Pope Francis, did not wait for generative AI tools to be interested in the development of artificial intelligence. From 2020 was published “” Rome call for ethical AI »». Invited to the G7 in June 2024, François devoted a whole speech to artificial intelligence, in which he called in particular to the prohibition of lethal autonomous weapons: “No machine should never choose to take life on a human being. »»
Source: Lemonde