Austrian bishops adopt first rules for AI in the Church

AI may play only a supporting role in the sacraments, preaching, liturgy, and pastoral care under a new framework adopted at the bishops’ autumn plenary in Salzburg.

The Austrian Bishops’ Conference has adopted its first rules on the use of artificial intelligence in the Church, declaring that AI may never take the place of human relationships, pastoral conversations, or the rites of the Church.

“The use of AI in the celebration of the sacraments, preaching, liturgy, or pastoral care may only be supportive,” a core provision of the new framework states. “Replacing human relationships, pastoral conversations, community, or rituals with AI is inadmissible and is expressly rejected.”

The bishops published the provision in their press statement on Thursday, explaining: “Particularly in preaching, liturgy, and pastoral care, the irreplaceability of personal encounter and human relationship must be preserved.”

The full document section is titled “Framework Regulation on the Use of AI Systems in the Catholic Church in Austria and Its Institutions.” It takes effect once it is published in the next official gazette of the bishops’ conference. The bishops met in Salzburg from Monday to Thursday.

“Artificial intelligence is reaching ever more areas of life. The opportunities it brings are matched by high risks,” the statement said. “AI also opens up new possibilities for the work and mission of the Church. Its use brings new ethical, legal, and social challenges and calls for responsible handling.”

“The rules are grounded in the Christian image of man, the inviolable dignity of every person, and respect for their freedom,” the bishops said. “AI should serve the human person and strengthen him in his responsibility, not replace him. Its use therefore requires critical review, human oversight, and orientation toward truth, justice, and the common good.”

The framework also sets organizational requirements. “Among other things, the rules provide that every diocese must appoint a person responsible for AI,” the bishops’ conference said. “For cooperation across Austria, a new working group is being set up that includes all diocesan AI officers.” Experts in data protection, information technology, and theological ethics will also take part, as will the Austrian Conference of Religious Orders.

In November 2025 the bishops’ conference set up a working group on the use of artificial intelligence in the Church. Led by Bishop Hermann Glettler of Innsbruck, it was tasked with examining legal and ethical questions as well as practical applications for the Church.

At their summer plenary in Mariazell in June, the bishops explicitly endorsed Pope Leo XIVʼs social encyclical Magnifica Humanitas.

“Pope Leo calls on us, even in the face of the promises of AI, to preserve the greatness of the human person, indeed the ‘beauty of being human,’ as a corrective and a standard,” they wrote at the time.

They quoted the encyclical: “It is not enough for artificial intelligence to make us more efficient or connected; it must also serve to build a universal human family, with shared rights and duties, where digital proximity becomes a real opportunity for encounter and mutual care.”

In the era of artificial intelligence, the encyclical says, “ours is the pressing duty to remain profoundly human.” The bishops added in June: “Precisely because it is the rich and powerful who develop AI systems and use them to their advantage, we need the perspective of the poor, the weak, and the disadvantaged that the pope has called for.”

“The future will not be decided by the performance of our systems but by whether we take responsibility — for the human person and for a culture of encounter, love, and peace,” they wrote.

This story was first published by CNA Deutsch, the German-language sister service of EWTN News, and has been translated and adapted by EWTN News English.