Interview with Archbishop Paglia. Maintains he resigned from the Pontifical Academy for Life and Pontifical John Paul II Theological Institute for Marriage and Family Sciences and was not pushed
Vincenzo Paglia: “Indignant at the world in ruins. We need global bioethics”
The outgoing President of the Pontifical Academy for Life: “I am 80 years old, my mandate ends here. From artificial intelligence to medicine, knowledge collaborates for a sustainable development of humanity”
“I have just returned from Argentina, from an international conference at the Catholic University of Buenos Aires on the ten years since Laudato Si’, the encyclical by Pope Francis that opens up in new ways to the issues of environmental protection. There is an extraordinary interest in the Church”. It is Monsignor Vincenzo Paglia who speaks, president of the Pontifical Academy for Life, on the phone between a flight and a conference.
Tell us about Argentina, how did you find it after the death of Pope Francis?
"It was a short but intense trip. Obviously, the death of Pope Francis weighs heavily. But there is a great welcome for Leo XIV. I spoke about bioethics (yes to the defense of life in all contexts, in all phases and at all ages) and of “planetary humanism”, that is, the urgency, in a world that is falling apart, of all of us moving towards realizing an effective fraternity both among peoples and with creation. It is the “vision” that we need and that Pope Francis outlined with the two encyclicals, Laudato sì and Fratelli tutti".
A few days ago, at the direction of Pope Leo, you were no longer Grand Chancellor of the Pontifical John Paul II Theological Institute. Why?
"It is the ordinary practice in the Roman Curia: upon reaching the age of 80, all positions expire. I turned them on the day Pope Francis died and the situation delayed the notification. Obviously, my term as President of the Pontifical Academy for Life also ends. In fact, already at the end of 75 years, like everyone else, I had presented my resignation to Pope Francis who told me to continue until I was 80. That's all".
Speaking of the Pontifical Academy for Life, what horizon is needed for the current situation, at the dawn of the age of Artificial Intelligence?
"First of all, the prospect of a Global Bioethics, with capital letters. Science and technology open up new and promising fields, threatened by involutive and dramatic consequences. Collaboration between scientists and researchers opens up new dimensions for the duration of life, surgical techniques, artificial intelligence change the entire perception of time and the meaning of life, individual and collective. The new ethical problems have a global dimension of evidence, which transcends different cultures and levels of development: because they touch the fundamentals of the human, which is common to all: the psychic configuration, sexual identity, individual dignity, access to resources, essential freedoms. Will the wonders we are talking about be available to the few or the many? Will we live better, thanks to new technologies for increasing potential or will we eliminate ourselves more easily, with the greater sophistication of military waste disposal apparatuses?
What will you do now?
"In this sense, I will not cease to continue to cooperate willingly, using my experience and according to my strengths, in the commitment to which today we all - including the "elderly" - are called to respond. Pope Leo has already shown himself decidedly sensitive to the epochal impact of new technologies, whose leap in quality requires a corresponding change of pace in the cultural commitment of believers. In the ways that are possible for me, I will not shy away from the call."
How do you see Pope Leo XIV? There is much talk about continuity between one pontificate and another.
"There is always continuity in the Church, despite the differences. There is in fact a line of progressive deepening of themes, based on experience and the historical era, but in continuity. From John XXIII, for example, from the Council onwards, we clearly see a Church that wants to be present in the world; a Church that is concerned with listening and gathering the joys and sorrows, and responding in the name of the Gospel by indicating to all humanity the path of dialogue, of peace, of an integral development of societies and people. The answers should not be sought in the affirmation of selfishness and in making someone or some country greater than others".
What contribution can Leo XIV make to the relationship between the Church and humanity?
"It will strengthen the “new humanism”, which is exactly what we need. We must open an era in which knowledge is called to collaborate in view of sustainable development for all humanity. We need a “vision” that unites peoples while respecting their diversity. It seems to me that the first steps of Leo XIV are exactly in this direction: the Church can help lost humanity to rediscover the meaning of life and of the common destination. As it was lost at the time of Leo XIII’s Rerum Novarum at the end of the nineteenth century. It is urgent to ask ourselves how to face the “new challenges” that we have before us".
In what sense?
"We are in a third world war “in pieces”, as Pope Francis said, fought with extraordinary cruelty; against civilians, against innocents such as children, women, the elderly. People are killed and left to die of hunger without mercy. We are devouring the future of humanity and mortgaging peaceful coexistence; we leave rubble in a trail of horrors and errors that will reverberate for decades, mortgaging relations between peoples. And we are lost. I do not believe in political proclamations of easy solutions to crises and tragedies that were not prevented when possible. We are lost, disappointed; allow me to say it: indignant at the inability of politics and diplomacy to solve problems. We need a vision of humanity at peace. A new humanism. The way exists: a disarmed, disarming, humble, persevering peace. These are the words spoken on May 8 by Pope Leo XIV. May they be our guide and inspiration."
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