SW News: One of the key aspects of the Holy Father’s discourse at Budapest’s Pazmany Peter Catholic University was technology and its impact on human lives. While addressing people from the academic and cultural spheres at the Department of Information Technology and Bionics at the university, Pope Francis cited noted German theologian Fr Romano Guardini.

He said Romano did not demonize technology which enhanced life and communication, bringing with it many advantages However, the theologian had warned of the risk of technology ultimately controlling or even dominating human lives. The pope asked those present, “Can life retain its living character in this system?”

The pontiff said that much of what the German theologian and author foresaw is applicable to contemporary society. “We need but think of the ecological crisis, the lack of ethical boundaries, of our tendency to concentrate on the individual, absorbed in his or her needs, greedy for gain and power, and on the consequent erosion of communal bonds, with the result that alienation and anxiety are no longer merely existential crises, but societal problems," he said.
Pope Francis also delved deeper into the rising threat of technology controlling the future and the existence of human beings by referring to the prophetic novel “The Lord of the World” by Robert Hugh Benson. The pontiff said that to a certain degree, the novel has got a prophetic tone in describing a future where technology dominates everything. It is a future where “everything is made bland and uniform in the name of progress, and a new 'humanitarianism' is proclaimed, canceling diversity, suppressing the distinctiveness of peoples and abolishing religion.”

He added that real intellectuals are those who are truly humble and open. The same applies to true lovers of culture who always experience interior restlessness. Pope Francis then reflected on truth, which he said will set mankind free as promised by Jesus. Pointing out the scourges of two ideologies that Hungary has experienced—communism and consumerism--, he went on to say they have failed to provide real freedom. But, Jesus, on the other hand, has a way forward. He shows the way to free people from their manias and narrowness.
The Holy Father concluded his discourse by saying that universities have the unique vocation of cultivating this form of relational knowledge and he hoped that all such higher education centers be torchbearers of universality and fruitful workshops of humanism as well as laboratories of hope.

The event was the last public function of the Holy Father during his three-day visit. During the meeting, he listened to the testimonies of research scholars of the Department of Information Technology and Bionics.