A new Swiss Guard swears to protect the pope, even sacrificing his life if necessary, during a ceremony on May 6, 2023. / Daniel Ibanez/CNAVatican City, May 6, 2023 / 13:00 pm (CNA).A group of new Swiss Guard recruits officially joined the ranks after swearing to "faithfully, loyally and honorably serve the reigning Pontiff" at the Vatican on Saturday.Wearing the red, orange, and blue grand gala uniform with armor, 23 new guardsmen swore their allegiance before friends and family during a ceremony in the San Damaso Courtyard on a sunny and breezy May 6. The ceremony began with the new guards, halberds in hand, marching into the courtyard.Twenty-three recruits were sworn-in to the Swiss Guard at the Vatican on May 6, 2023. Daniel Ibanez/CNASwiss Guard Commander Christoph Graf reminded the men of the proverb, "the clothes don t make the man," recalling that just as beautiful clothing does not say anything about the character of a person, neither does wearing the unifo
Pope Francis waves to pilgrims gathered in St. Peter's Square for the recitation of the Regina Caeli on May 7, 2023. / Vatican MediaCNA Staff, May 7, 2023 / 06:30 am (CNA).Pope Francis on Sunday warned against the danger of living life without a sense of purpose or a destination to set our course by, reminding the faithful that Jesus is "our compass for reaching heaven," our true home.Speaking to pilgrims gathered on a sunny day in St. Peter s Square to pray the Regina Caeli, the pope reflected on the day s Gospel reading, in which Jesus consoles his disciples before his ascension, telling them, "I am the way, the truth, and the life" (Jn. 14:6)."Jesus sees the disciples distress, their fear of being abandoned, just as it happens to us when we are forced to be separated from someone we care for. And so, he says: I go to prepare a place for you … that where I am you may be also," the pope said."Jesus uses the familiar image of home, the place
Photo illustration. / ShutterstockDenver, Colo., May 7, 2023 / 08:00 am (CNA).A leading artificial intelligence researcher some call the "godfather" of AI says the technology is developing at a "scary" rate and warns that it should not expand beyond our ability to control it. He joins the voice of many leaders, including Pope Francis, who want to ensure ethical concerns are "built in" at the technology s foundation.Geoffrey Hinton, a longtime researcher at Google newly retired at age 75, has added his voice to those saying that the potential dangers of the new technology deserve scrutiny. Software like the GPT-4 chatbot system, developed by the San Francisco start-up OpenAI, "eclipses a person in the amount of general knowledge it has and it eclipses them by a long way," Hinton told BBC News. "In terms of reasoning, it s not as good, but it does already do simple reasoning." "And given the rate of progress, we expect thin
Franciscan Univesity of Steubenville students who participated in the Unplugged Scholarship in its first year (from left to right): Theresa Ryan, Grace Pollock, and Paul Merkel / Photos courtesy of Theresa Ryan, Grace Pollock, and Paul MerkelBoston, Mass., May 7, 2023 / 07:00 am (CNA).As Franciscan University of Steubenville students wrap up their spring semester, a large group of its undergraduates will be heading into summer significantly changed after participating in the school s invitation to drop their smartphones."It had way more of an effect on me than I thought it would," Grace Pollock, a sophomore nursing major at the private university in Steubenville, Ohio, told CNA May 3.Pollock has seen an improvement in her focus and productivity and spent more time doing outside activities and reading since joining the school s "Unplugged Scholarship," which began its pilot run in the fall semester of 2022.The scholarship awarded $5,000 this academic year to undergra
null / Credit: Zolnierek / ShutterstockACI Prensa Staff, May 5, 2023 / 18:20 pm (CNA).Rodrigo Iván Cortés, president of the National Front for the Family (FNF) in Mexico, said he will appeal to the Inter-American Court of Human Rights if the Superior Chamber of the Electoral Court of the Federal Judiciary (TEPJF) rejects his appeal and upholds his Feb. 22 conviction by the Specialized Chamber of the same entity.Cortés appeal was on the agenda of the Superior Chamber for May 3 but at the last minute the judges did not address the case. It is expected that the court will reschedule it in the coming days.The FNF president had criticized Salma Luévano, a trans woman, for disrespectful remarks the federal legislator made regarding religious leaders who engage in so-called hate speech.The Specialized Chamber found the pro-family leader guilty of "political violence against women based on gender," saying that his criticisms of Luévano "were offensive and discriminatory by