You can also view the video here on spotify:

Welcome to What Matters Most, episode 3 of our fifth season. This is also the third episode on What Matters Most to discuss the encyclical Magnifica Humanitas and every conversation reveals nuances to the document and aspects of it we have not discussed previously. I surveyed the encyclical on my own a few months ago, but next I brought in a couple of experts in moral theology and Christian ethics, Drs. Tisha Rajendra and Ruben Rosario Rodreiguez to discuss the encyclical on AI, migration, war, and whatever else came up for them in their readings. This third episode dedicated to Magnifica Humanitas features St. Mark’s theology faculty and our conversation focused a lot on the anthropology of the document, the role of education, about AI and with AI, the problem of deep fakes and how that impacts especially women and children, and how one builds a civilization of love, grounded in truth and humanity, in contrast to the forces that desire power, the technocratic paradigm, and increasing calls for warfare.

The guests on this episode were Dr. Fiona Li is an assistant professor and inaugural holder of the Archbishop J. Michael Miller Chair in Catholic Studies at Corpus Christi-St Mark’s College. She is originally from Toronto and received her PhD in Theological Studies from Regis College and U of T. Her primary research interests lie at the intersection of feminist theology, Chinese Canadian Catholic women’s experiences, and Mariology.

Rev. Dr. Nick Meislis a priest of the archdiocese of Vancouver, whose parish is St. Peter’s in New Westminster, a professor of scripture at St. Mark’s College, and at Christ the King Seminary, and he recently earned his doctorate in Scripture, writing a dissertation on 1 Corinthians 7, supervised by John Barclay, at University of Durham and Harry Maier at VST. His dissertation will be published soon.

Dr. Nick Olkovich is an associate Professor and Marie Anne Blondin Chair in Catholic Theology at St. Mark’s College. He holds a Ph.D. in Theology from the University of St. Michael’s College at the University of Toronto. His ongoing research focuses primarily on the relationship between ethics, politics and religion in democratic contexts and on a variety of issues in theological anthropology, ecclesiology, and foundational theology.

A few notes about documents and popular culture that were mentioned in this episode. There have been two previous Church documents on AI:

January 14, 2023, Dicastery for The Doctrine of the Faith; Dicastery for Culture and Education: Antiqua et Nova: Note on the Relationship Between Artificial Intelligence and Human Intelligence

March 4, 2026, the International Theological Commission released a 50-page reflection titled “Quo vadis, humanitas? Thinking Christian anthropology in the face of some scenarios concerning the future of the human.”

Also, The Reverse Centaur’s Guide to Life After AI: How to Think About Artificial Intelligence—Before It’s Too Late by Cory Doctorow was mentioned as was The Empire of AI: Dreams and Nightmares in Sam Altman’s Open AI by Karen Hao. And Fiona mentioned Pixel Perfect, which turns out to be a Disney Channel movie from 2004.

A few thanks are in order. First of all, I am grateful to Martin Strong, who guides me in the podcasting world and joins me for the Pop Culture Matters regularly. Second, the episodes are edited, engineered, and produced by Kevin Eng who is the first listener to all the episodes and my consultant for each episode, especially with the snippets that begin each episode. Thank you, Kevin, for all of your expertise and support and especially for saving this episode when I could not convert it to a listenable or viewable file. Finally, to the Fang Fang Chandra, the CCE assistant, who helps me bring this podcast to you, but also makes the CCE run so much more smoothly.

I also want to thank our donors to the Centre, whose generosity enables this work to take place at all: Peter Bull, Angus Reid, and Andy Szocs. We are thankful to their commitment to the life of the academic world and of the work of the Church in the world by funding the work of the CCE. I am also thankful to the Cullen family, Mark and Barbara, for their support of the ongoing work of the CCE through financial donations that allow us to bring speakers to the local and international arenas.

If you would like to support the work of the CCE, become a new member of CCE Patreon, First Engagers, supporting the podcast and the Centre for only $5.00 CAD a month. For that 5 dollars, you will get a live monthly podcast discussion via Zoom, free exclusive member merchandise, be able to suggest guests and topics for What Matters Most. And the first ten Patrons, apart from the other merch they will receive, such as water bottles, tote bags, etc., will get awesome, I mean it, awesome, CCE hoodies. Orange hoodies with the CCE logo in green, orange and blue. Do it, become first engagers! If you are simply interested in donating to the CCE, please check out the CCE website where you can find the donate button on the top right corner. We are a non-profit organization, and all donations over $20.00 are tax deductible. But think about the Patreon too!

Since St. Mark’s Centre for Christian Engagement seeks to enable the creation of a culture of encounter and dialogue, let me invite you into that discussion. Follow us at our Instagram page, @stmarkscce or our Facebook page and drop us a line as to what you want to see or hear. We’ll post there with a question as to what you are most interested in. Or email us with your suggestions to [email protected] or [email protected].

John W. Martens