A generation raised on promises of happiness, clarity, and stability is waking up to the gap between what the culture sold them and what life actually delivers. This article draws from a keynote address given to Catholic young adults ages 25–35 and explores how Gen Z is questioning the world's empty promises — and where the Catholic faith offers something the culture never could: lasting truth, real hope, and a life that actually holds.

Just over a year into the papacy of the first American pope, Pope Leo XIV has released his first encyclical: Magnifica Humanitas (“Magnificent Humanity”). Subtitled “Safeguarding the Human Person in the Time of Artificial Intelligence,” the encyclical is timely, beautifully written, and challenging.

There is so much to digest and pray about, and I recommend that everyone read the encyclical in full (like other encyclicals, it’s available for free on the Vatican’s website). In the meantime, however, I’ve gathered five takeaways for Catholic professional women. I’ll be meditating on them over the coming days, weeks, and months. I hope you will, too!

The Catholic Church teaches that technology is a gift when it serves human dignity and fosters authentic relationships. Still, we have to be careful. Relying too much on AI risks fraying the delicate threads of human connection.