When ChatGPT launched, it sparked an idea for solving a lifelong challenge, according to Matthew Harvey Sanders. This 43-year-old Torontonian, dressed in clerical black, stands in the contemporary library of the Vatican’s Pontifical Oriental Institute. Towering shelves on three levels hold one of the world’s largest collections of books on Eastern Catholic traditions. These volumes represent just a portion of the Catholic Church’s vast written heritage, including council records, synods, papal encyclicals, official documents, and statistical yearbooks that monitor baptisms, marriages, and ordinations. Sanders is transforming this extensive body of work into Magisterium AI, a specialized artificial intelligence platform he established and leads as chief executive.
In a compact office near Rome’s Termini station, a team of young women scans dense theological texts using large, refrigerator-sized machines, with robotic arms handling page turns. “We’re currently working to complete the collected works of all the doctors and fathers of the church,” Sanders explained.
A Convert’s Journey to AI Innovation
Sanders began life as an Anglican, grew up Evangelical, and converted to Catholicism following a University of Toronto course on church history. During his part-time service as an infantry officer in the Canadian Armed Forces, he identified a disconnect between the church’s rich intellectual legacy and accessible tools for exploring it. This realization drew him to Rome, where he first served as a technology consultant before launching Magisterium, supported mainly by private Catholic donors.
Magisterium operates as a large language model, but its training data remains strictly limited to Catholic primary sources—materials often confined to specialized libraries or church archives. Unlike general-purpose AIs like ChatGPT, which draw from broad internet data and risk inaccuracies on religious topics, Magisterium relies on verified church documents. Every response includes citations directly to these sources. “We always emphasize: Never trust an AI on faith alone,” Sanders noted.
The Vatican has not granted official endorsement to the platform and probably won’t, Sanders indicated. Fixed texts can earn an imprimatur or nihil obstat, but a dynamic language model evolves too rapidly for such approvals. Nonetheless, Sanders displays a signed letter from Pope Leo XIV on his office wall, praising Catholic AI initiatives and viewing technological advancements as a way to engage in divine creation.
Navigating Faith in the Digital Era
Pope Leo XIV has prioritized artificial intelligence early in his papacy, cautioning in his inaugural public address that it could transform economies, workplaces, and perceptions of humanity. After several years of operation, Magisterium serves users in 185 countries. Primary audiences include professionals such as priests drafting homilies, bishops, seminary instructors, and chancery personnel. Increasingly, lay Catholics in Western regions turn to it for personal moral dilemmas, particularly issues of scrupulosity.
“Many individuals grapple with a heavy conscience,” Sanders observed. “They’re assessing the gravity of sins, whether confession is required, and if they’re venial or mortal.” Frequent queries address pornography addiction, sexuality concerns, sexual shame, anger, and uncontrollable behaviors. “People seek guidance after their resolve falters,” he added, “wondering about implications and recovery steps.”
Among lay users, the demographic leans male and toward Generation Z—a group facing high loneliness in the West and showing renewed interest in Catholicism. Some users start with confrontational queries, often in all caps, before posing deeper questions. “There’s considerable anger and confusion around sexuality,” Sanders said. Traffic data reveals spikes following online talks or podcasts by figures like Jordan Peterson, the former University of Toronto professor known for conservative cultural commentary.
“Users often arrive frustrated that the church views extramarital sex as harmful,” Sanders explained. “They approach it as debate with the AI, but really engage with thinkers like Augustine, Aquinas, and John Paul II.” Sanders positions Magisterium as a reference resource, not a substitute for clergy, confession, or spiritual guidance. He rejects making it mimic a priest’s tone. “I see it more as a librarian’s voice,” he said, “one bound by confessional confidentiality without retaining long-term memory.”
Balancing Technology and Human Connection
Maintaining equilibrium between practicality and personal interaction proves essential. If responses feel too impersonal, users may revert to broader AIs; if overly empathetic, it could supplant real relationships. Michael Baggot, a theologian and bioethicist at Rome’s Regina Apostolorum University and Magisterium advisory board member, highlighted this dynamic. “It offers a safe space to explore sensitive topics,” Baggot stated. “Yet it must serve as an entry point to human communities and living dialogue.”
Baggot warned against AI replacing genuine support, as its non-judgmental nature might seem preferable. AI ethicist Virginia Dignum concurred that domain-specific training minimizes errors but doesn’t ensure infallibility. “It provides relevant support through generative language, but cannot guarantee absolute truth,” she affirmed.
This tension echoes Sanders’s life experiences. Raised in diverse Toronto, he valued exposure to varied perspectives as a privilege, yet found it overwhelming for moral clarity. “Amid so much noise, discerning truth becomes daunting,” he reflected. His conversion proved intellectual, leading to seminary studies in Washington, D.C., which he left after two years, opting for marriage over priesthood. That era overlapped with the church’s sexual abuse scandals, reinforcing his distinction between doctrine and human failings.
Following roles at the Archdiocese of Toronto’s spiritual affairs office, handling abuse matters, Sanders identified isolation as a root of church challenges. “It’s unacceptable that clergy receive extensive formation while others lack support,” he asserted. Magisterium aims to bridge this by democratizing access to church teachings, fostering greater involvement and oversight.
A future objective involves digitizing church statistical yearbooks for diocese-specific searches on baptisms, marriages, and ordinations. “If a diocese is declining, users should query the reasons directly,” Sanders said.
