Rationale and Relevance of the Conference Theme

Every major transformation in how human beings communicate has also transformed how they believe, worship, and relate to one another across lines of faith. The invention of writing gave rise to sacred scriptures; the printing press reshaped religious authority and helped spark the Reformation; radio and television carried religious voices into homes across the world. Today we are living through a transformation of comparable, and perhaps greater, magnitude. Digital technologies, social media, and above all artificial intelligence are reshaping not only the tools of religious life but the very conditions in which faith, moral reasoning, and spiritual experience take place. For this reason, the 5th Jubilee World Conference on Religious Dialogue and Cooperation has chosen to devote its attention to Religion, Ethics, and Spirituality in a Digital Age.

A new environment for religious life. For billions of people, the digital sphere is no longer a separate “virtual” space but part of everyday reality. Worship services are streamed, sacred texts are read on screens, prayer and meditation are guided by apps, and religious communities increasingly form, gather, and sometimes divide online. These developments open remarkable possibilities: the elderly, the sick, migrants, and believers living as minorities can remain connected to their communities, and religious knowledge is more accessible than ever before. At the same time, they raise profound questions. What happens to community, ritual, and sacramental presence when they are mediated by screens? Who speaks with religious authority when anyone can publish, and when algorithms decide which voices are heard? How do traditions transmit wisdom to younger generations whose attention is shaped by platforms designed for distraction?

Artificial intelligence and the question of the human. The rapid spread of generative artificial intelligence since 2022 has given these questions new urgency. Machines now produce text, images, and speech that are increasingly difficult to distinguish from human work, and they are being integrated into education, healthcare, labour, warfare, and governance. These technologies touch on questions that religious traditions have reflected upon for millennia: What is a human person? What is the source of human dignity? What is the meaning of work, responsibility, truth, and wisdom? What may we create, and what limits should we respect? Religious communities have begun to respond. The Rome Call for AI Ethics (2020), later endorsed by Jewish and Muslim leaders and, in Hiroshima in 2024, by representatives of Eastern religious traditions, shows that the ethics of technology can become a genuine meeting point for different faiths. The Catholic Church’s document Antiqua et Nova (2025) on artificial intelligence and human intelligence, and the decision of Pope Leo XIV to frame his pontificate partly in light of the challenges posed by AI, confirm that this is now a central concern for religious thought. Similar reflections are unfolding in Orthodox, Protestant, Islamic, Jewish, Buddhist, Hindu, and other traditions. Yet these voices too often speak in parallel rather than in conversation with one another.

Why this is a question for religious dialogue. The digital age is, by its nature, a shared condition. No single religion, nation, or culture lives in a separate digital world; the same platforms, algorithms, and AI systems shape the lives of believers of every tradition and of those who profess none. This makes the digital age a uniquely suitable and necessary subject for interreligious dialogue and cooperation. Religious traditions bring distinctive resources to the table: rich understandings of human dignity and the common good, accumulated wisdom about desire, attention, and self-restraint, practices of silence, contemplation, and sabbath rest, and long experience in building communities of trust and mutual responsibility. In dialogue, these resources can complement one another and offer the wider public an ethical vision that neither technology companies nor governments alone can provide.

The shadow side of digital connectivity. The same technologies that connect people can also divide them. Online spaces have become fertile ground for religious hatred, disinformation, conspiracy theories, and radicalization. Algorithms that reward outrage can deepen mistrust between communities, while deepfakes and manipulated content can inflame tensions and even incite violence. Antisemitism, Islamophobia, Christian phobia, and hostility toward other religious and non-religious groups spread online with unprecedented speed. Religious leaders, scholars, and communities therefore have both a responsibility and an opportunity: to model respectful encounter in digital spaces, to develop digital literacy grounded in ethical and spiritual values, and to cooperate in countering hatred and promoting truthfulness, peace, and mutual understanding.

Spirituality in an age of acceleration. Beyond ethics and social cohesion, the digital age poses a deeply spiritual question. Constant connectivity, information overload, and the commercialization of attention are associated with loneliness, anxiety, and a weakened capacity for reflection, particularly among young people. Many people search for meaning, belonging, and inner peace in the very spaces that often deprive them of these. Religious and spiritual traditions can help people rediscover the value of presence, silence, embodied community, and transcendence, while also discerning how digital tools might genuinely serve, rather than replace, the spiritual life.

Why now. Why now? We find ourselves at a decisive moment. The norms, regulations, and cultural habits that will govern artificial intelligence and digital life for generations to come are being shaped today—through legislation, international agreements, corporate policies, and countless everyday choices. If religious communities remain on the margins, these decisions will be made without the moral and spiritual wisdom they offer. If they engage—and do so collaboratively—they can help ensure that technological progress serves human dignity, justice, peace, and care for creation. Building upon the tradition of dialogue and cooperation established by previous editions, this jubilee conference offers a fitting opportunity for university professors, associates, and researchers (from fields such as the sociology, philosophy, anthropology, psychology, and history of religion), religious leaders and representatives of faith communities, theologians, philosophers, ethicists, social scientists, technology experts, educators, and policymakers to reflect on these issues in a spirit of openness and cooperation. With this conference, we invite scholars and practitioners from all religious traditions and disciplines to explore how religion, ethics, and spirituality can shed light on the challenges and opportunities of the digital age, and how interfaith dialogue can contribute to a more humane, just, and peaceful digital future.

CONFERENCE THEMES

The Fifth World Conference for Religious Dialogue and Cooperation explores the profound impact of artificial intelligence, digital technologies, and new forms of communication on religion, ethics, spirituality, and human life.

The conference brings together scholars, theologians, philosophers, religious leaders, and researchers from different traditions and regions to examine how digital transformation is reshaping religious thought, practice, community, authority, education, and interreligious dialogue.

1. Artificial Intelligence and the Human Person

Human dignity, consciousness, the soul, and personhood in light of artificial intelligence; imago Dei and comparable concepts in other traditions; transhumanism and posthumanism; the limits of human creativity; and the ethics of “creating” intelligence.

2. Interreligious Ethics of Technology

Comparative ethical approaches to artificial intelligence and digital technology across religious traditions; shared ethical principles; responsibility, transparency, and accountability; and the contribution of religious traditions to global discussions on AI governance.

3. Sacred Texts, Tradition, and Religious Authority in the Digital Sphere

Digital scriptures and hermeneutics; AI-generated religious content, sermons, and theological opinions; “chatbot clergy”; online religious influencers; and changing concepts of authenticity, interpretation, authority, and orthodoxy.

4. Digital Worship, Ritual, and Community

Online liturgy, streamed services, virtual pilgrimage, and digitally mediated ritual; sacramental and ritual presence; hybrid religious communities; lessons from the COVID-19 pandemic; and the future of religious community in digital environments.

5. Religious Institutions and Digital Ministry

The digital transformation of churches and other religious institutions; online congregations; streaming and digital outreach; AI-assisted sermon preparation and pastoral care; and institutional responses to emerging technologies.

6. Digital Media, Interreligious Dialogue, and Peacebuilding

Digital platforms as spaces of religious encounter; online interreligious dialogue; digital storytelling; social media as a bridge or barrier between communities; religious diplomacy; and case studies from conflict and post-conflict societies.

7. Hate Speech, Disinformation, and Radicalization Online

Religious hatred and discrimination on social media; deepfakes and manipulated religious content; digital pathways to extremism; online intolerance; interreligious responses to hate; and the balance between freedom of religion and freedom of expression.

8. Spirituality, Mental Health, and Wellbeing in a Hyperconnected World

Attention, distraction, loneliness, and the search for meaning; digital detox and spiritual discipline; prayer and meditation apps; contemplative practice; and the spiritual lives of young people and digital natives.

9. Spiritual but Not Religious: New Spirituality Across Cultures

The growth of non-institutional spirituality; mindfulness and meditation outside traditional religious contexts; astrology, tarot, manifestation culture, digital neo-paganism, wellness spirituality, and new spiritual markets across different cultures.

10. New Religious Movements in the Digital Age

The use of digital media for outreach, recruitment, organization, and self-representation; online conversion; digital religious communities; preservation of founders’ teachings; and generational change within new religious movements.

11. Religious Education and Digital Literacy

Artificial intelligence and digital technologies in theological education, religious schools, and universities; formation of clergy and religious leaders; teaching religion in digital environments; and ethical and media literacy.

12. Religion, Technology, and Social Justice

The digital divide; global inequality; algorithmic bias; discrimination against religious minorities; surveillance and privacy; automation and the meaning of work; and technology in the service of marginalized communities.

13. Bioethics, Medicine, and the Digital Transformation of Life and Death

Artificial intelligence in healthcare and medical decision-making; digital immortality; griefbots and the digital afterlife; religious perspectives on mourning, memory, suffering, death, and human finitude.

14. Technology, Creation, and Ecological Responsibility

The environmental impact of artificial intelligence, data centres, and digital infrastructures; religious ecological ethics; sustainability; technological consumption; stewardship; and care for creation.

15. Digital Methods in the Study of Religion

Digital humanities and religious studies; computational analysis of sacred texts; digitization of manuscripts and religious heritage; big data; online religious research; and methodological and ethical questions in digital scholarship.

16. Regional and Tradition-Specific Perspectives

Responses to digital transformation within Orthodox, Catholic, Protestant, Islamic, Jewish, Buddhist, Hindu, Sikh, Indigenous, and other traditions; regional perspectives from the Balkans, the Middle East, Africa, Asia, Europe, and the Americas; minority religions and diaspora communities online.

An Interdisciplinary Global Dialogue

The conference welcomes comparative and interdisciplinary perspectives connecting religion with philosophy, ethics, sociology, anthropology, history, psychology, education, law, political science, media studies, medicine, artificial intelligence, and digital humanities. Particular attention is given to the role of religion and interreligious cooperation in addressing the ethical, social, and spiritual challenges of the digital age.