Can Catholics Use AI?
Where does ChatGPT and other AI tools fit into a Catholic's life?
It’s been a while. Almost two years, actually.
I could give you the usual excuses—life got busy, priorities shifted, kids needed attention—and all of that would be true. But the real reason I went quiet is that I’ve been wrestling with something I wasn’t sure how to talk about.
Like most of you, I’ve watched AI explode over the past couple of years. ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini—suddenly everyone has access to a tool that can answer almost any question instantly. And people are using it for everything, including questions about faith.
That’s where it gets complicated.
I’ve seen Catholics ask ChatGPT about discernment, about prayer, about whether they should stay in a difficult marriage. I’ve heard from people who typed their deepest spiritual struggles into a chat box because it felt safer than talking to a priest. And I get it. There’s no judgment from a machine. No awkward silences. No fear of being misunderstood.
But here’s the problem: when you ask ChatGPT a question about your spiritual life, you have no idea where the answer is coming from.
It might draw from St. Ignatius. It might also pull from a Buddhist meditation blog, a self-help guru, and a Reddit thread—all blended into one confident-sounding response. For questions about productivity or travel recommendations, that’s fine. For questions about your soul? That’s a real problem.
So I started asking myself: is there a way to do this responsibly? Is there a way to use AI for spiritual reflection that’s actually grounded in something trustworthy?
That question led me down a rabbit hole. And eventually, it led me to build something.
I’m not ready to share all the details yet—I’ll save that for next time. But I wanted to start by asking you the same question I’ve been wrestling with:
Can Catholics use AI for spiritual guidance? Should we?
I don’t think the answer is a simple yes or no. But I do think it’s a conversation worth having, because people are already doing it whether we talk about it or not.
More soon.
Peace,
Chad
P.S. — If you’ve ever typed a spiritual question into ChatGPT (or thought about it), I’d genuinely love to hear about your experience. Just reply to this email. No judgment—I’m curious what led you there and whether it helped.