Pittsburgh Holding Defense of Faith Forum

This September, the Pittsburgh Region will host its third annual Defense of the Faith Forum, addressing the relevant topic: A Catholic Theology of Work in the Age of AI.  Speakers will review the Church’s teaching on the meaning of work and how work realizes human identity in the image of God, the status of AI and its implementation, and how we can align technology and human identity and avoid the commodification of labor and persons.  Speakers include contributing authors of the 2024 volume “Encountering Artificial Intelligence: Ethical and Anthropological Investigations” from the Vatican’s Dicastery for Culture and Education’s AI Research Group.

This event will be the third in a line of impactful forum topics.  The Region’s 2024 forum topic was Human Flourishing: A Catholic Analysis of the Isolation Epidemic with Practical and Programmatic Responses.  The event explored actionable ways to create flourishing faith communities around our parishes, schools, and ministries - to stave off growing isolation, to help those who suffer with it, and to evangelize through authentic human relationships. The forum included a panel of academic leaders and clinical experts in psychology, a panel of innovative pastoral leaders on community creation strategies, and it featured keynote addresses from Sister Mary Patrice Ahearn, RSM, Psy.D., of the Sisters of Mercy and from Brett Robinson, Ph.D., Director of Catholic Media Studies at the McGrath Institute for Church Life at the University of Notre Dame.

The Region’s 2023 forum focused on equipping the laity with practical tools and strategies to take ownership of their personal call to evangelize.  It featured panelists representing a dozen different ministries from the Pittsburgh region that are actively spreading the faith on the front lines – from artists to teachers, to marriage programs, service programs, and missionaries at schools and inner-city communities.  It also featured a keynote by Marcel LeJeune, founder of Catholic Missionary Disciples. 

Please consider joining the Pittsburgh Region for this year’s forum on September 6!