The bishop-elect for the English diocese of Arundel and Brighton believes there is a place for AI in the Church, even if there are risks involved.
Father Stephen Wang, who was chosen by Pope Leo XIV to be the new bishop of Arundel and Brighton last week, tells Crux Now he doesn’t think the right approach to AI is to avoid it entirely, but instead to find a balance.
“[E]ven though there are risks,” the bishop-elect tells Crux Now in an exclusive interview, “I don’t think we should opt out of using AI in the Church.”
“Some people want to completely withdraw,” he says.
“We mustn’t be naïve,” Wang tells Crux Now, “but there can be blessings and benefits as well, and it might be a tool that can help others come to faith, just as the printing press and the radio were in the past. It will need a lot of discernment.”
Wang, a priest of the Diocese of Westminster and rector of the Venerable English College in Rome where priests for England and Wales are trained, is positive about the men entering formation.
“The men joining seminary today are very rooted in their faith, they are prayerful, they want to be holy priests. Most of them are from supportive communities where the parish priest has been an inspiring example of the priesthood,” Wang said.
Wang was also instrumental in the creation of the “Sycamore” program of Catholic formation through short videos to explore the faith, now used throughout the world. He tells Crux Now this experience has shown him that ultimately it is holiness that aids evangelization.
“I’ve always believed that the Church evangelizes simply by being the Church, not by running a program. We evangelise simply by praying, by loving, by worshipping, by serving others, by sharing our faith,” he says.
“So,” he says, “first of all, we need to renew ourselves, our own individual hearts, and our communities.”
The full interview with Bishop-elect Stephen Wang of Arundel and Brighton is below.
Crux Now: How did you feel when you got the news that you would be the new bishop of Arundel and Brighton?
Bishop-elect Wang: It was a complete shock.
We had just spent a week planning the next year at the seminary, and then this came out of the blue. Straight after my meeting at the Dicastery for Bishops, I went to pray at St Peter’s Basilica, and that helped to settle me.
I’m feeling a mixture of gratitude and trepidation; an excitement and a curiosity about all that lies ahead. There is a sense of peace and a quiet joy.
I wish I could be in the Diocese straight away, but there is lots to finish in Rome first.
What do you expect the main challenges of the new role to be?
I honestly don’t know!
I want to have an open heart, to be open to the people and the communities of the diocese, and to be open to the Lord. I don’t want to arrive with too many expectations.
On the one hand, it’s a completely new role, and I have so much to learn. On the other hand, I’ve been a priest for twenty-eight years, and I’m sure that I will bring my experience of priesthood into my ministry as a bishop.
The priesthood is about love: love for Jesus, for his Church, for his people. I’ve been praying that the Holy Spirit will give me the love I need in the years ahead, and will sustain me through the love of others.
What does a good bishop look like to you? Do you have any particular role models you will seek to emulate?
I think a bishop is a shepherd and a spiritual father, and a brother too. As Pope Leo said, quoting St Augustine, “With you I am a Christian and for you I am a bishop.”
I’ve had some very good role models in my own Diocese of Westminster over the years, and I’ve been impressed by the faithfulness and prayerfulness of bishops I’ve known through my work as rector of a seminary.
St John Paul II is a hero of mine; he was Pope through the years of my seminary formation in Rome. My favourite bishop from history is St Francis de Sales.
He was a bold missionary, an eloquent teacher, and a strategic thinker; he was kind, gentle and loving to all – there were no airs about him; he had a gift for friendship; and he spoke about the universal call to holiness four hundred years before Vatican II.
It’s no wonder that St John Bosco took St Francis de Sales as the patron of his educational and evangelistic work. And another bishop-saint is important to me in a personal way, because I became Catholic on his feast day many years ago.
This is St Turibius of Mogrovejo, who was Archbishop of Lima in the sixteenth-century. You can look him up if you don’t know him!
From your experience with Sycamore, how do you think the Church can effectively evangelize England and Wales?
The Sycamore programme is just a tool. What matters is that local communities are reaching out to others and sharing the Good News of Jesus Christ. I’ve always believed that the Church evangelises simply by being the Church, not by running a programme. We evangelise simply by praying, by loving, by worshipping, by serving others, by sharing our faith.
Holiness is what touches others. So first of all, we need to renew ourselves, our own individual hearts, and our communities. It’s like Pentecost, when the disciples were trapped in the Upper Room. It’s only when the Spirit of Holiness came upon them that they could open the doors and step outside.
But then, even if we believe deeply, we are often lacking confidence, and we don’t know what to do next. There is a reticence in many Catholics, even a paralysis. That’s where a programme can help – any programme. It can give people the tools and perhaps the training they need to share their faith with more confidence.
It can help a community focus its spiritual and pastoral energies on mission. And that can have a feedback effect on the wider community, because it’s forced to examine itself, and see if it is truly a community that is able to welcome people, form them, and help them to belong.
You were the rector of the Venerable English College (VEC) in Rome for the last five years: What have you learned about the new generation of priests being trained for England and Wales?
I have had such a rich and happy time as rector of the Venerable English College. The men joining seminary today are very rooted in their faith, they are prayerful, they want to be holy priests. Most of them are from supportive communities where the parish priest has been an inspiring example of the priesthood.
Each of them has had to make a personal decision to live their faith, as a teenager or young adult, because to be a young Catholic today is to swim against the tide. But this hasn’t made them cliquey or defensive. They are very normal!
The Propaedeutic Year has helped as well. This is a year of spiritual and human formation that takes place in Valladolid in Spain, before they start with us. It’s a good preparation and it helps them form deep friendships before they arrive.
What are your thoughts on Pope Leo XIV’s papacy so far?
I think he is great! We were in St Peter’s Square when he first stepped onto the balcony in May last year. I remember his very first words, “Peace be with you”. And the fact that he seemed very recollected, despite the noise of the crowd and the enormity of the situation.
A key theme of his pontificate seems to be unity; trying to hold together the many different groups and communities within the Church. But not at any cost. It’s clear that he can defend the truth and make tough decisions when needed. And I appreciate how he has put artificial intelligence at the top of his agenda.
I think it’s one of the most significant challenges that humanity has ever had to face, and we are living through it now, and no-one really knows where it will take us. It will continue to be the defining issue of our time.
A key part of Pope Leo XIV’s teaching has concerned technology and AI. As rector at the VEC, did you have any specific advice for seminarians on how to use modern technology effectively in their ministry?
We need the young people themselves to teach us. As a formation team, we decided not to write any guidelines about AI – we are not the experts – but to have a time of discernment this autumn with the whole community. It needs the wisdom of their experience, and the guidance of the Holy Spirit.
Personally, even though there are risks, I don’t think we should opt out of using AI in the Church.
Some people want to completely withdraw. I understand that instinct; we can see the damage that is being done to childhood by social media, and there are definitely some uses of AI that can undermine the relationships that are at the heart of Christian life, relationships with God and with each other.
We mustn’t be naïve. But there can be blessings and benefits as well, and it might be a tool that can help others come to faith, just as the printing press and the radio were in the past. It will need a lot of discernment. And it’s not going to stand still!