"Fewer podiums, more tables”: CNA reflects on Section 9 of Drawing New Maps of Hope

In Drawing New Maps of Hope, Pope Leo XIV turns, in Section 9, to a question that touches every school, diocese and system in our network: how do we inhabit the digital world as Catholic educators?

For Catholic Network Australia (CNA), 9.3 is especially resonant:

“The decisive point is not technology, but the use we make of it.”

This simple sentence offers both a challenge and an encouragement. It refuses the idea that AI and digital tools are neutral, inevitable forces we passively receive. Instead, it places responsibility squarely in human hands – and therefore right at the heart of Catholic education.

For a network like CNA – spanning dioceses and religious institutes, metro and remote communities, large and small systems – this is an invitation to move from reaction to discernment. We are not simply trying to “keep up” with technology; we are called to shape how it is used in our schools, offices and communities.

Leo XIV’s assertion that “the decisive point is not technology, but the use we make of it” pushes us beyond two familiar temptations:

• Techno-optimism – assuming every new tool is automatically progress.

• Techno-fear – retreating from digital spaces altogether.

  
  

At CNA, we see another path: a Gospel-shaped realism that recognises technology as a genuine gift, but insists on asking:

• What kind of people does this form?

• Who benefits, and who is left behind?

• How does this support – or undermine – our mission to educate in hope?

When we evaluate AI platforms, data tools, or digital learning environments, this is the deeper level of discernment we are called to.

AI at the service of dignity, justice and work

Section 9.3 names three touchstones for AI and digital environments. Each lands very concretely in Australian Catholic education.

a) Dignity

Every Catholic Education system now engages with some degree of data platforms, analytics and AI-enabled tools. These can be powerful supports for learning and decision-making – but they can also reduce students and staff to profiles, scores or predicted outcomes.

Leo XIV reminds us: human beings are not algorithms or risk ratings; they are faces, stories and vocations.

b) Justice

AI is already reshaping access and opportunity. If we are not attentive, digital tools can quietly reinforce existing inequities – between large and small dioceses, metropolitan and regional schools, well-resourced and resource-constrained communities.

c) Work

Catholic social teaching sees work as participation in God's creative action, not just economic output. Section 9.3 explicitly connects AI with work, reminding us that technology can either hollow out or deepen human vocation.

AI that supports feedback, differentiation, and accessibility can be a true ally. AI that simply tries to “replace” teachers or automate relationships falls short of the vision Leo XIV sets before us.

A “diakonia of culture”: fewer podiums, more tables

Perhaps the most striking line in 9.3 is Pope Leo’s call for Catholic universities to offer a “diakonia of culture” – a service of culture – with:

“fewer chair professorships and more tables to sit around together, without unnecessary hierarchies, to touch the wounds of history and seek, in the Spirit, the wisdom that springs from the lives of peoples.”

Section 9.3 suggests that in the digital age, this way of working is not just organisationally convenient—it is theologically significant.

• Fewer podiums: Digital transformation is not something handed down fully formed from a stage or a central office.

• More tables: It is a journey shared by teachers, school leaders, system executives, students, families and experts sitting together—online and in person—to listen, discern and decide.

  
  

Navigating new spaces together

At its heart, 9.3 calls Catholic education to be responsible, hopeful and deeply human in the way we approach AI and digital environments.

For CNA, this means:

“Navigating new spaces” is not a solo voyage. It is a shared journey across a constellation of schools, dioceses and communities, all seeking to “draw new maps of hope” in the digital age.

As Catholic Network Australia, we are grateful for Pope Leo’s clear reminder: technology will never be the decisive point. The decisive point is us—our choices, our governance, our formation, and the hope we dare to bring into digital spaces, together.

Read the full DRAWING NEW MAPS OF HOPE.