Can AI Serve the Church? A Practical Conversation for Parish and Diocesan Leaders
ACST Catholic
01:02:05
Artificial intelligence is already shaping how people search for information, make decisions, and approach daily work. But for Catholic parish and diocesan leaders, AI raises deeper questions: How can this technology be used faithfully and responsibly? Where can it help reduce administrative burdens and strengthen ministry? And where must the Church remain especially attentive to the irreplaceable value of human connection?
Join Terry Poplava, General Manager of ACST Catholic, for a timely conversation with Matthew Harvey Sanders, Founder and CEO of Longbeard, the company behind Magisterium AI, the world’s leading Catholic answer engine serving users in more than 190 countries.
Grounded in new insights from the American Beliefs Study and the Church’s ongoing reflection on artificial intelligence, this webinar will explore how Catholic leaders can think clearly and pastorally about AI. Terry and Matthew will discuss common hopes and concerns surrounding AI, including fears that technology may replace human work or deepen loneliness when used as a substitute for personal connection.
Rather than treating AI as either a threat or a cure-all, this conversation will focus on practical discernment. Attendees will hear how AI can serve as a tool to reduce friction in parish work, improve access to information, support stewardship conversations, and help leaders better understand and communicate ministry impact — while keeping human dignity, relationship, and mission at the center.
What You’ll Learn
- How Catholic leaders can approach AI with both openness and caution
- Explore the major questions being raised across the Church, from broad ethical concerns to practical parish-level decisions.
- Where AI may help parish and diocesan teams work more effectively
- Learn how AI can support everyday ministry and administration by making information easier to access, summarizing data, and helping communicate parish impact.
- Why human connection must remain central in any use of AI
- Consider the pastoral risks of using AI as a substitute for relationship, and how parishes can ensure technology supports — rather than replaces — authentic community.
Whether your parish is already experimenting with AI or just beginning to ask what it means for ministry, this webinar will offer a thoughtful, practical starting point for faithful leadership in a rapidly changing digital landscape.
Speakers
Terry Poplava
General Manager, ACST Catholic
About your host: Terry Poplava serves as General Manager of ACST Catholic, where he brings extensive experience in supporting Catholic parishes and dioceses. With a background in executive roles at Our Sunday Visitor and Catholic Leadership Institute, Terry has worked across the U.S. helping churches with planning, stewardship, and engagement efforts. He has also spoken nationally and in the media on a wide range of topics, from the epidemic of loneliness to the importance of stewardship in the Church. Terry’s passion for equipping ministries to thrive is at the heart of his current focus on serving the Catholic Church through ACS Technologies.
Matthew Harvey Sanders
Founder and CEO of Longbeard
Matthew Harvey Sanders, a former infantry officer and seminarian, is the Founder and CEO of Longbeard. The company's flagship product, Magisterium AI, is the world's leading Catholic answer engine, serving users in over 190 countries. Longbeard also developed Vulgate AI, an advanced library platform powering a historic digitization project with the Pontifical universities in Rome. Later this year, the company will release Ephrem, the world's first trained Catholic AI. Matthew was among the technology leaders invited to the Vatican for the presentation of Magnifica Humanitas, Pope Leo XIV's encyclical on artificial intelligence, and has addressed the Catholic Bishops' Conference of England and Wales, the Council of European Bishops' Conferences (CCEE), and parliamentarians at the House of Lords of the United Kingdom Parliament.
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Can AI Serve the Church? A Practical Conversation for Parish and Diocesan Leaders
01:02:05