Archbishop reflects on Pope’s AI warning and national issues

Pope Leo XIV’s recent reflections on artificial intelligence (AI) should not be understood simply as a warning about technology, according to Archbishop Charles Jason Gordon.

Speaking after his recent visit to Rome, the Archbishop said the Holy Father’s concerns are rooted in a much deeper question about the human person, society, and humanity’s relationship with God.

At the heart of Pope Leo’s reflection is a contrast between two biblical cities: Babel and Jerusalem.

Drawing on the tradition of St Augustine, the Pope presents Babel as humanity’s attempt to take God’s place. The Tower of Babel, Archbishop Gordon explained, was originally understood as a place where God descended to meet humanity. Human beings reversed the order.

“What they did is they made their towers their way of reaching up to God, to be like God.”

The Archbishop said the image echoes the temptation faced by Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden. “The same sin of Adam and Eve wanting to be like God, the hubris, the pride, the arrogance of the human being. And it ends always in confusion.”

Jerusalem, by contrast, represents the City of God, where God dwells among His people and where human life is properly ordered. “Why does it have right order?” Archbishop Gordon asked. “Because the message of Jesus Christ enters into the human being and orders human living in a way that allows that order to bring peace, harmony, love and growth for humanity.”

For the Archbishop, Pope Leo’s concern is not that AI exists, but that technology increasingly presents itself as a substitute for authentic human relationships. “There are people who have long conversations with their AI helper and mirror it as if this is a psychologist or a friend,” he observed.

Technology remains a tool, he said, but society must be careful not to confuse technological capability with human flourishing.

Reflecting on slavery

Archbishop Gordon also addressed Pope Leo’s recent comments regarding slavery and the Church’s responsibility to acknowledge its failures.

He noted that the Pope’s remarks continue a tradition established by St John Paul II’s famous mea culpa as the Church prepared to enter the new millennium.

The late pope publicly asked forgiveness for sins committed by members of the Church throughout history and apologised for ways in which Christians had been complicit in slavery.

The Archbishop remarked that such acknowledgements are particularly significant for Caribbean societies whose histories remain deeply shaped by slavery and colonialism. “It’s an important moment for us to reflect on that in the Caribbean.”

An unfinished legacy

For Archbishop Gordon, many of the Caribbean’s present challenges cannot be understood apart from the plantation system that shaped the region. “We’re living in a society that was a plantation society. That has not been resolved.”

He said this perspective emerged during discussions between Caribbean bishops and Vatican officials in Rome. The Archbishop pointed to the work of economist Lloyd Best and his concept of the plantation economy. “A plantation economy is an economy that has a monocrop and imports everything else.” Such economies remain vulnerable because they depend heavily on a single industry while relying on external sources for much of their needs.

Whether the dominant commodity is sugar, oil, tourism or another export, many Caribbean societies continue to operate within structures that encourage dependency and vulnerability to international shocks. “But it’s deliberately set up that way to keep the country dependent,” Archbishop Gordon said.

The effects, he argued, extend far beyond economics. When examining governance challenges, social fragmentation, and developmental stagnation, “all of this is part of the plantation legacy.”

Crime and public frustration

Turning to Trinidad and Tobago’s crime situation, the Archbishop urged citizens to look carefully at both the facts and the public mood. “When I check, murders have come down 42 per cent.”

While acknowledging that serious crime remains a major concern, he noted that recent reductions in murder figures are significant and deserve recognition. “We still have the problems we had last year, but we don’t have them at the level we had last year.”

The Archbishop questioned why public frustration appears to be increasing at a time when crime indicators are moving in a positive direction. “I think that narrative is not being played out in social media.”

At the same time, he stressed that every act of violence remains a tragedy. “Every murder is one too many, and every murder should be protested.”

Balancing rights and security

Archbishop Gordon also reflected on the ongoing debate surrounding the State of Emergency. He described the issue as a delicate balancing act between protecting civil liberties and ensuring public safety.

“Everybody for the last 25 years has been saying we have to get crime under control.”

The challenge, he said, is balancing the rights of those accused of criminal activity with the rights of law-abiding citizens who deserve safety and security.

“We all agree that there’s something fundamentally wrong with crime in this society and the level of murder rate in this society.” While recognising concerns about the length of the State of Emergency, he said that its impact cannot be ignored. “For the first time in decades, we’ve seen crime coming down.”

Questions around protest and policing

The Archbishop also addressed recent protests surrounding allegations of police misconduct and extrajudicial killings. “The accusation that the police and the extrajudicial killing is a serious matter.” At the same time, he cautioned that questions of criminal liability must ultimately be determined by the courts.

What most interests him, however, is the intensity of the public reaction. He noted that previous incidents involving allegations of wrongdoing by police did not generate comparable public demonstrations. “Why the ferment? Why the heat?”

The question, he said, deserves serious reflection. “Is it social media? Is it that we just become fed up?” While he does not claim to have the answer, Archbishop Gordon believed understanding the forces driving public anger is essential if the country is to move forward.

Archbishop Gordon also discussed his recent ad limina visit to Rome, including meetings with Pope Leo XIV and Vatican officials. Readers can access the full interview by scanning the accompanying QR code.

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