POPE Leo XIV’s remarks to members of the board of the Vatican Observatory Foundation last May 11 addressed a growing concern shared by scientists, technologists and philosophers alike: modern societies are entering an era in which technology is reshaping humanity’s relationship with truth itself.
“Both science and religion face a different and perhaps more insidious threat: those who deny the very existence of objective truth. Too many in our world refuse to acknowledge what both science and the Church plainly teach — that we bear a solemn responsibility for the stewardship of our planet and for the welfare of those who dwell upon it, especially the most vulnerable, whose lives are imperiled by the reckless exploitation of both people and the natural world,” the Pope said.
His remarks touched on emerging digital technologies, misinformation, political polarization and the growing fragmentation of public trust in institutions.
Epistemology
At the center of the discussion is epistemology, the branch of philosophy concerned with how humans determine what is true. For centuries, science helped societies navigate such questions through observation, experimentation and peer review. These systems were never perfect, but they established mechanisms through which competing claims could be tested against observable facts.
The digital age has complicated that process dramatically. Modern information systems no longer simply distribute knowledge; they actively shape perception. Algorithms increasingly determine what people see, believe and emotionally respond to online. Social media platforms reward engagement, allowing emotionally charged content to spread faster than nuanced or evidence-based reporting. Machine-learning systems have accelerated this transformation by making it possible to generate convincing text, images, audio and video capable of imitating authenticity with startling precision.
This environment has contributed to what many experts describe as epistemological fragmentation. In earlier periods, political groups often disagreed intensely while still sharing a basic understanding of observable reality.
Sources of truth
Today, many communities operate within separate informational ecosystems. Different groups may trust entirely different sources of evidence, reject one another’s institutions and interpret the same events through radically incompatible frameworks. Flat "earthers," vaccine deniers, chemtrail believers are but some examples.
The result goes beyond ordinary political disagreement. Increasingly, societies are experiencing the emergence of parallel narratives shaped by algorithmic filtering, ideological identity and distrust of traditional authority. Issues such as climate change, vaccine safety, biotechnology and advanced computing systems are now frequently interpreted through political loyalty before they are evaluated through evidence.
Skepticism has also changed form. Questioning assumptions and rigorously testing claims has always been central to research. Digital ecosystems now can transform skepticism into generalized distrust. Universities, journalists, medical organizations and research agencies are increasingly accused of manipulation, bias or conspiracy regardless of the evidence they produce. Once trust in institutions collapses, even well-supported findings can become politically negotiable.
Destabilizing authenticity
These technologies intensify the problem by destabilizing traditional markers of authenticity. Photographs once served as documentary evidence, while audio and video recordings carried assumptions of credibility. Deepfakes and synthetic media now blur those distinctions, making manipulated content increasingly difficult to distinguish from genuine material. As falsified media becomes more sophisticated, even authentic evidence becomes easier to dismiss because people begin assuming that everything may be fabricated.
As a consequence, a paradox increasingly concerns both researchers and democratic governments. Modern societies now produce more data than at any point in human history, yet establishing consensus about basic facts has become more difficult. The problem is no longer access to knowledge alone, but the erosion of shared systems for evaluating credibility.
No resistance
The Vatican’s intervention is particularly striking because of its historical context. The Catholic Church was once widely associated with resistance to scientific inquiry, especially during the Galileo affair. Yet 135 years ago, Pope Leo XIII re-established the Vatican Observatory specifically to counter the growing perception that faith and science were enemies.
In his 1891 apostolic letter Ut Mysticam, he declared that the Church was “not opposed to true and solid science, whether human or divine,” but instead sought to “embrace it, encourage it, and promote it with the fullest possible devotion.”
Rather than portraying science as a threat to faith, the Vatican now presents rigorous inquiry as essential to preserving humanity’s relationship with objective truth itself. Astronomy occupies a symbolic role within that argument.
Leo XIV described the night sky as a universal source of wonder and perspective that remains accessible regardless of wealth, nationality or ideology. Unlike digital platforms designed to maximize outrage and stimulation, astronomy forces confrontation with immense scales of time and space. Looking outward into the cosmos can create what he described as “a saving sense of proportion,” reminding humanity of its relative smallness within a universe billions of years old.