Stephan Rothlin

　　Is there an ever-growing gap between the rich and the poor? What role is AI playing in this process: do we have to anticipate a massive wipe-out of a broad range of jobs?

　　The present issue of the Macau Ricci Institute Journal intends to face the challenge of AI from an ethical point of view. With a reflection on the Encyclical letter “Magnifica Humanitas” of Pope Leo XIV. I share my ongoing dialogue with Zhou Shoujin which keeps going back on the question about the meaning of the Confucian terminology of “Common Good” (“Gong Shan”). The Encyclical letter places the “Common Good” firmly at the center of AI governance (Leo XIV, 2026, n. 59). In Confucianism, the Common Good is not merely the sum of individual preferences but an organic state of “Great Harmony” (Datong). The Confucian Common Good is defined through a tripartite structure namely the Commonality of Virtue: Goodness is inherently relational. As Mencius argued, one cannot be truly virtuous in isolation. The “good” of an AI system must be measured by how it improves the moral quality of relationships and its impact on the larger society, not just by speed or profit. Then as second key point relates to the Commonality of Well-being. The Book of Rites describes the Datong society: “The way is practiced, and the world is shared by all... The aged find their end, the strong their use, and the young their growth”. This is a direct parallel to the overall vision of an economy that “values dignity” (Leo XIV, 2026, n. 157). The key term of dignity seems a key notion which unites Christianity and Confucianism. And finally, the Transformation from Virtue to Well-being: In Confucian thought, moral order leads to material flourishing. If AI is governed by Ren (benevolence), the result will naturally be Datong (universal well-being). Zhou Shoujin takes this broad vision a step further or beyond Humanistic AI when he is re-grounding Artificial Intelligence with the Commonality of Virtue: This dimension posits that virtue (Good) is inherently common (Common). A single, isolated virtue is insufficient to constitute a complete moral good; true virtue exists only in a network of interconnected moral relations. As Confucius articulated, “If a man’s knowledge is sufficient to attain a good end, but he lacks benevolence (Ren) to hold onto it, he will lose what he has gained... Even if he possesses knowledge and benevolence, if he does not govern with dignity, the people will not respect him. And if he governs with dignity but fails to act in accordance with ritual propriety (Li), his actions are not yet perfect (not yet ‘Good’)” (Analects 15.34). In this framework, Ren (benevolence) serves as the ultimate synthesis of these interconnected virtues, while the Junzi (the noble person) acts as the practical embodiment of this holistic moral network.

　　Sonja Xia takes this ultimate synthesis further in her analysis of “Translating the glory of God in Chinese language”. It is a significant argument to try to understand the limitations of Christian dogmatic propositions as a way to break away from a lingering ethnocentrism. Before divine revelation, all languages are insufficient and imperfect. The formulation of doctrines usually entails a transformation of the original language. Christian doctrine of the Trinity maintains that there is but one God existing eternally in three persons: Father, Son, and the Holy Spirit. Pivotal for the formation of this doctrine is the demarcation between two previously interchangeable Greek words meaning essence/existence, ousia and hypostasis. Christian theologians used the former to designate the common essence of the three persons, and the latter the individual existence of each person respectively. Before the distinction was made, both the common aspect of a thing’s existence (e.g., James is a human being) and the individual aspect (e.g., James is James) resided in the single philosophical word ousia. This overlap caused tension and confusion. The making of the Trinitarian doctrine led to the use of two distinct terms to clarify these two aspects of being which in Biblical terminology translates with perhaps one of the most insights namely that “God is love”.

　　Thomas Cai hints to the significance of the Jesuit Cardinal and theologian Robert Bellarmin in the Chinese context. Robert Bellarmine (1542-1621) was considered as one of the last theologians of the sixteenth century who was considered to master all the major areas of theology of his time. Cai argues that the significance of Bellarmine’s letter lies in his vision of the relationship between the Church and the State. Being a faithful Christian does not challenge one’s identity in a particular society on earth. He made it clear that the Gospel doctrine does not seize earthly kingdoms: “But now, by a blessing from heaven, they are beginning to understand that the teachings of the Gospel do not take away the kingdom on earth; rather, they promise and grant a kingdom from heaven.” In this regard, thus the end of the Church’s mission is not the power of the temporal order, but rather the kingdom of heaven. These words of Bellarmine reveal his theory of the Church’s indirect power. According to this theory, there is a distinction between the Church and the state in terms of their ends. The Church has only one spiritual power, not temporal power, because her aim is to save souls. Consequently, the Church has an indirect power in the temporal order. For Bellarmine, the pope’s spiritual power is only extended to the temporal order on occasion: “Rather we mean that the papal power is of itself properly spiritual, and therefore directly regards as its primary object spiritual affairs; but indirectly, that is, by reason of their relation to spiritual things, reductively, and by necessary consequence it regards temporal things as its secondary object. To this object the spiritual power turns, as Innocent III says, in particular cases.”

　　The radical spiritual nature of the Pope appears clearly in the essay by Roderick O’Brien when he reflects on the significance of the last international pastoral trip through Asia of Pope Francis. It highlights the key paradigm shift from a Eurocentric towards an Asian perspective. Pope Francis suggests to rediscover the importance of the devotion to the heart of Jesus as he refers to the power of popular devotion in maintaining a true sense of the heart of Jesus. This devotion seems especially strong in Asia as nearly every diocese would have a church dedicated to the Sacred Heart, perhaps the most famous being the Cathedral of Guangzhou. The late French missionary Jean Charbonnier (1932-2023), estimated that more than 200 parishes, churches, and chapels in mainland China are dedicated to the Sacred Heart. In India, the Sacred Heart Cathedral in New Delhi is central among many other churches, schools, and chapels which exemplify this devotion. But more important are the large number of religious orders, communities, and lay associations which carry this title. The heart, too, enables us to develop a bridge of understanding with other religions which might not be possible at simply an intellectual level. In order to further demonstrate the relevance of one of the most relevant Encyclical letters of Pope Francis “Laudato Sì” (2005) Franz Gassner shares his analysis of coming to grips with garbage collection in Hong Kong where he argues that the three main goals of the Waste Blueprint 2021 remain recommendable namely: “Waste Reduction - Resources Circulation - Zero Landfill”, with a promotion of low carbon lifestyle and achieving carbon neutrality. These goals result from scientific research and international experiences. The Second Medium Target in the Waste Blueprint 2021 is to instill a “Green Living Culture” in Hong Kong through public education campaigns and through the support of the recycling trade in Hong Kong: Recycling Fund; Green Tech Fund; Eco Park. There are two long-term targets in the Waste Blue Print for Hong Kong 2035: to develop adequate Waste-to-energy facilities, moving away from the reliance on landfills, and the target of Zero-Landfills. But the key question remains, how these targets can be practically achieved given the dominance of the prevailing habits and social systems in Hong Kong.

　　In order to challenge and educate future generations to come up with adequate solutions on these urgent issues Yves Vendé suggests Service Learning programs as pedagogical method in order to inspire young students and their professors to develop a sense for complex social situations and to start thinking and acting for the common good especially for the left behind. The various elements of the program—field exposure, acquisition of professional skills, academic knowledge, and personal and critical reflection—distinguish service-learning from student volunteer work or internships. Service-learning promotes genuine personal transformation in the context of learning a profession and assimilating a social role.

　　The wider contextual framework of the Social Doctrine of the Church is developed by Dennis McCann when he points to the consistency from the first social Encyclical Letter by Leo XIII. in 1891 to Leo XIV in 2025 which begins with an attempt to recover the language of the heart, obscured and distorted by so many cultural trends today. The lesson of Catholic Social Teaching is that our response to God’s love must begin with restoring our capacities for human interaction expressed in the language of the heart. Our path toward recovery is marked by the cloud of witnesses celebrated in the Catholic tradition through centuries who showed us how to take a stand. Toward the end of letter “Dilexit nos”, Francis discusses “Christian reparation”, the actions of Christians that will contribute to a “civilization of love” (John Paul II). There seems to be a great consistency of Catholic Social Teaching spanning all the way from Leo XIII. to Leo XIV. Christian reparation cannot be understood simply as a congeries of external works, however indispensable and at times admirable they may be. These need a “mystique”, a soul, a meaning that grants them strength, drive and tireless creativity. They need the life, the fire and the light that radiate from the heart of Christ.

　　Thomas Worcester evaluates Pope Leo XIV. and his first year as shepherd of the Catholic Church. Three days before Christmas, Pope Leo addressed the Roman curia for the “exchange of Christmas greetings.” In one of his first years as pontiff, Pope Francis had used this same occasion for a rather severe critique of the curia, enumerating with them a list of some fifteen things wrong with them (Pope Francis, 22 December 2014). Pope Leo was milder in his 2025 address to the curia. Yet he did insist on the importance of a synodal church and on fraternal friendship as essential for a healthy functioning of the curia, the curia where “the exercise of power, the desire to prevail, or the pursuit of personal interests are slow to change”.

CONCLUSION

　　The contributions of this issue of the Macau Ricci Institute Journal offer a wide range of perspectives in the context of the cultural exchange between China and Western cultures with a particular focus on how to properly react to massive shifts in socio-political situations around the world. An urgent key wake-up call comes through the ongoing process of discernment on how to deal properly with AI so that a humanistic approach could ensure that it will be used for the benefit of the larger society. This discernment takes deep roots in the role which the church may play when it grew out of his position of temporal power and moving away from a mostly Eurocentric point of view. We thus assist the paradigm shift from Europe to a broader universal context where Asia plays an increasingly important role while the importance of previous Empires is rapidly diminishing. Therefore, a key punchline would be how Asian wisdom traditions and different religions may in a very concrete way shape the development of technology and particularly AI so that its beneficial impact will outperform the multiple destructive side-effects. It seems to be an optimistic view that the Church would not just be an insignificant bystander in midst of ongoing changes but may be able to make a significant contribution in humanizing the economic and technical development.

Stephan Rothlin, Macau and CEO of Rothlin International Management Consulting Limited, Beijing and Hong Kong

REFERENCES

• Ames, R. T., & Rosemont, H. (1998). The Analects of Confucius: A Philosophical Translation. Ballantine Books.
• Chan, W. T. (1963). A Source Book in Chinese Philosophy. Princeton University Press.
• Lau, D. C. (1979). Confucius: The Analects (Lun Yü). Penguin Classics.
• Leo XIII. (1891). Rerum Novarum. Vatican Press.
• Leo XIV. (2026). Magnifica Humanitas. Vatican Press.
• Legge, J. (1885). The Li Ki (Book of Rites). Clarendon Press.
• Mencius. (n.d.). The Works of Mencius. (J. Legge, Trans.).
• Wilhelm, R., & Baynes, C. F. (1950). The I Ching, or Book of Changes. Princeton University Press.
• Yao, X. (2000). An Introduction to Confucianism. Cambridge University Press.

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