Earth movers prepare a site for a 2.5 million square foot AI data center March 24, 2026, in Independence, Mo. Globally, data centers rank behind all but 10 countries in electricity use, according to a new U.N. report. (AP/Charlie Riedel, file)

Pope's AI encyclical lends church support to calls to slow rapid expansion of data centers

News

A typical AI data center uses the same amount of power as 100,000 houses, according to the International Energy Agency.

The Latest

The superfans known as the 'Spurs Nuns' aim to bring divine intervention to the NBA Finals

Tim Reynolds, Associated Press

Pepper-sprayed yet undeterred: Faith leaders keep ministering at Delaney Hall

Jack Jenkins, Religion News Service

Spain's reckoning with clergy abuse enters a new chapter as Pope Leo visits

Suman Naishadham, The Associated Press

Editors' Choice

People pause to view a memorial marker to the unknown enslaved people buried at St. Peter Claver Parish's cemetery in St. Inigoes, Md., after Cardinal Wilton Gregory of Washington blessed the memorial Nov. 26, 2022. At least 24 parishes in the archdiocese have requested that memorial to honor formerly enslaved people buried in their cemeteries. (CNS/Catholic Standard/Ashley Barnas)

In Focus

Pope's slavery apology draws praise as Jesuit slaveholding legacy turns to reconciliation

"I think it's a positive step, but it's a very limited step, especially when dealing with something that's so complicated and complex in a single paragraph," said Fr. Bryan Massingale.

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Attendees at the Women's Ordination Conference's 50th anniversary celebration wave multi-colored stoles Friday, May 22, 2026, in Detroit. (NCR photo/Dan Stockman)

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At the 50th anniversary celebration of the Women's Ordination Conference, attendees dared to celebrate the Catholic Church's commitment to synodality and the bit of hope it brings them that women could someday be ordained priests. 

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Pope Leo XIV greets visitors and pilgrims from the popemobile while riding around St. Peter’s Square at the Vatican before his weekly general audience May 27, 2026. (CNS/Vatican Media)
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Ian McKellen stars as Gandalf in a scene from the movie "The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug," an adaptation of the book by J.R.R. Tolkien. Pope Leo turns to the words of Gandalf in the newly released encyclical Magnifica Humanitas. (CNS/courtesy of Warner Bros. Pictures)

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Pope Leo quoted Gandalf in 'Magnifica Humanitas' — are we listening?

As we witness the rise of AI and the spread of violence and hatred across the globe, we can draw wisdom from both a fictional wizard and a very real pope.

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Pope Leo calls to 'disarm' AI in major document, warns of technologic threats to humanity

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Pope Leo calls for 'openness' to church reform that respects tradition

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Sr. Susan Rose Francois of the Sisters of St. Joseph of Peace poses next to the sign outside the family and detainee support tent in front of Delaney Hall in Newark, New Jersey. (Courtesy of Eyes on ICE NJ/Joseph O'Leary)

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Pope Leo XIV greets visitors and pilgrims from the popemobile while riding around St. Peter’s Square at the Vatican before his weekly general audience May 27, 2026. (CNS/Vatican Media)

Will the church conform to its own teaching?

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Pope Leo urges Catholic universities to instill passion for the truth found in Christ

Pope Leo XIV told Catholic university leaders on June 3 that they have a responsibility to instill in their students a passion for "not only intellectual truth, but the truth that is Christ himself."

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A church at a crossroads: Spain's Catholics look to Pope Leo for encouragement

As Pope Leo XIV prepares for his June 6–12 apostolic visit to Spain, Church leaders say he will encounter a Catholic community at a pivotal moment. While the number of Spaniards identifying as Catholic has declined in recent decades, many observers point to signs of renewed interest among young people. 

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Montse Alvarado, president and chief operating officer of EWTN News Inc., the EWTN Global Catholic Network, is pictured in an undated photo. (OSV News/courtesy EWTN Global Catholic Network)
Vatican News

Pope Leo picks EWTN News president Maria Montserrat Alvarado to lead Vatican communications

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Returning to the fold? Some young Spaniards embrace Catholicism and can't wait for Pope Leo's visit

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Earth movers prepare a site for a 2.5 million square foot AI data center March 24, 2026, in Independence, Mo. Globally, data centers rank behind all but 10 countries in electricity use, according to a new U.N. report. (AP/Charlie Riedel, file)

Pope's AI encyclical lends church support to calls to slow rapid expansion of data centers

A typical AI data center uses the same amount of power as 100,000 houses, according to the International Energy Agency.

A poster of slain environmentalist Juan López hangs in his home as a state-assigned bodyguard watches over the López family, in Tocoa, Honduras, Dec. 6, 2024. (AP photo/Moises Castillo)

New arrests made in murder of Catholic activist in Honduras

"This is an important step toward justice for Juan, and we're hopeful that we're getting closer to the true masterminds who ordered and paid for this crime," Fr. Carlos Orellana said.

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In AI encyclical, Pope Leo warns of tech, data center threats to creation

In Magnifica Humanitas, Pope Leo said, "Technology has the power to heal, connect, educate and protect our common home; but it can also divide, exclude and generate new forms of injustice."

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Facing soaring fuel and fertilizer prices, Catholic farmers lean on faith

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Academy Award winner Brendan Fraser as General Dwight D. Eisenhower in "Pressure" (Focus Features)

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Pope Francis celebrates Mass marking the feast of the Epiphany in St. Peter's Basilica at the Vatican Jan. 6, 2018. Author Bruce Feiler tells the story of his visit to the basilica in the first chapter of his new book A Time to Gather. (CNS/Paul Haring)

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New York has Ben Stiller, Tina Fey, Tracy Morgan among its superfans; San Antonio has a group of nuns who wear Spurs jerseys over their habits.

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The new Italian documentary film "Agnus Dei" follows the Benedictine sisters in Rome who care for two lambs whose wool becomes part of a papal vestment — a centuries-old tradition. The lambs' principal caretaker is Sr. Vincenza Portaluri, shown here with the animals. (Riccardo Ghilardi)

Inside a Benedictine monastery, nuns raise lambs whose wool is for the pope

A new Italian documentary, "Agnus Dei," follows the Benedictine sisters who care for two lambs whose wool becomes part of a vestment for the pope and archbishops — a centuries-old tradition.

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A nun distributes Communion during Mass outside the Cathedral of Our Lady of Graces in Ituri, Congo, May 24, 2026, amid a resurgence of Ebola involving the Bundibugyo strain, a rarer variant of the virus with no approved vaccine currently available. (OSV News/Reuters)

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As Ebola spreads through eastern Congo's war-ravaged communities, religious sisters confront fear and deepening suffering while struggling to protect displaced families living in overcrowded churches and camps.

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