As the 2025 Congress of the Union Catholique Africaine de la Presse (UCAP) convenes in Accra, a central message emerges: technology, particularly Artificial Intelligence (AI), must be harnessed ethically to serve humanity without compromising human dignity.
Most Rev. John Baptist Attakruh, Bishop of Sekondi-Takoradi and head of the Ghana Catholic Bishops’ Conference Social Communications Department, emphasized that while AI and digital innovation offer transformative possibilities, they must never overshadow the intrinsic worth of the human person.
“Christian responsibility calls us to place human dignity at the heart of all technological progress,” he stated during the opening ceremony.
Echoing this, Most Rev. Matthew Kwasi Gyamfi, President of the Ghana Catholic Bishops’ Conference, urged Catholic media practitioners to act as guardians of truth amid the rise of misinformation and sensationalism in digital spaces. He insisted that “AI must remain the servant of humanity, never its master,” underscoring the necessity of maintaining ethical boundaries around emerging tools.
Archbishop Julien Kaboré, Apostolic Nuncio to Ghana, cautioned participants against the temptation to idolize technology or let it substitute genuine human connections. He highlighted AI’s limitations, noting that machines cannot love, forgive, or pray — capacities reserved for humans alone.
Chairman of the ceremony, Mr. Ambrose Yennah, acknowledged AI’s potential to revolutionize storytelling and evangelization, but warned against overlooking the uniquely human qualities of empathy, emotional intelligence, and spiritual depth that technology cannot replicate.
He challenged African nations to proactively engage with the Fourth Industrial Revolution to avoid marginalization, while linking AI ethics to broader societal issues such as leadership deficits, corruption, and the pursuit of holistic human development.
The congress also served as a platform for solidarity, receiving messages from major Catholic and journalistic organizations, including the Vatican’s Dicastery for Communication, SIGNIS Africa, the Ghana Journalists Association, and the Private Newspapers and Online News Publishers Association of Ghana.
As Catholic communicators deliberate, the call is clear: to harness AI and emerging technologies responsibly — balancing innovation with moral reflection — in service of both truth and the dignity of every human life.
