Pope Leo XIV said Wednesday that he was sorry that what he said was seen as a response to criticism from President Donald Trump. He added he didn’t want to debate the US leader.
Leo informed reporters on his way to Angola that he had given a lecture in Cameroon on the second part of his tour of Africa about “tyrants” destroying the planet.
The comments had been made long before Trump said he was “not a big fan” of the American pope.
“And yet people thought I was trying to start a new argument with the president, which I don’t want to do at all,” Leo remarked.
He made this clear after warning on Friday against using AI to “fan polarization, conflict, fear, and violence” and criticizing the “environmental devastation” caused by extracting rare earths to power the digital growth, according to AFP.
He said this in a speech at the Catholic University of Central Africa in Yaoundé, Cameroon: “The challenge posed by these systems is greater than it seems. It’s not just about using new technologies; it’s about the slow replacement of reality by its simulation.”This is how fear, violence, conflict, and polarization spread. Not only is there a chance of making a mistake, but our connection with the truth is changing.
It is the pope’s most recent public statement on a historic 11-day trip to Africa, during which he has let up his usual restraint to make passionate calls for world peace.
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