Manila: Some 70 Catholic bishops were present during the first of the four-day seminar before their 131st plenary assembly scheduled this weekend in the City of Manila. The Catholic Bishops' Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) News reported that the Catholic prelates on Tuesday attended the seminar which was held at the Pope Pius XII Catholic Center along U.N. Avenue.

According to Philippines News Agency, one of the activities was orienting the bishops on the responsible use of artificial intelligence (AI) in their pastoral ministry, as well as AI's ethical, moral, and security risks. In his opening remarks, Caceres Archbishop Rex Andrew Alarcon, chair of the CBCP-Episcopal Commission on Social Communications, underscored the need for the Church to engage in emerging technologies with discernment, pastoral wisdom, and moral responsibility.

At the end of the seminar, the Church leaders attended a Mass led by Pagadian Bishop Ronald Anthony Timoner at the Minor Basilica and National Shrine of Our Lady of Mount Carmel in New Manila, Quezon City. In his homily, he urged his fellow bishops to practice humility and to have deeper discernment and not to judge people based on their appearance. 'God does not judge by appearances but searches the innermost recesses of our hearts, and often the unlikely or ordinary to do the extraordinary things,' Timoner added.

At present, the CBCP is composed of 83 active bishops, 42 retired bishops, and four priests serving as diocesan administrators. They are expected to attend the four-day seminar that would run from Jan. 20 to 23, to be followed by the three-day plenary assembly to be held from Jan. 24-26. Lipa Archbishop Gilbert Garcera, who was elected as the new president of the CBCP last Dec. 1, is set to lead the plenary for the first time. He succeeded Cardinal Pablo Virgilio David of the Diocese of Kalookan.