By Viktoriia Havaleshko / Photo: Karina Gandur
A good friend of The Lay Centre, Bishop Paul Tighe, visited our community on Wednesday, November 5, during the week following the Jubilee of the World of Education. He is Secretary at the Dicastery for Culture and Education. Bishop Tighe presided over the Eucharist and joined us for a moment of dialogue with our community.
The evening was particularly special because one of our Board members, Sara E. Dysart from San Antonio, Texas (USA), was also with us, accompanied by her friend Mary Stich. Our co-founders, Donna Orsuto and Riekie Van Velzen, also attended this community evening.
Challenges of Technology in Education
Reflecting on his experience at the Dicastery, during a moment of dialogue with Lay Centre residents, Bishop Tighe addressed one of today’s most pressing topics: the impact of artificial intelligence (AI) on education and human formation.
Technology can never replace the teacher who forms not only the mind but also the soul, for education is, above all, the cultivation of the human personality. Artificial intelligence may become either an ally of human growth or a threat — depending on whose hands it is placed in — yet it also carries within it the biases embedded in the very technologies themselves, reflecting the minds and interests of those who created them.
According to him, Catholic education has the mission not only to teach, but to help a person discover their values, recognize their gifts, learn responsibility, and develop leadership. Technology can be a valuable tool when it creates space for creativity, discovery, and deeper relationships.
Another key theme of the evening was transculturality. Bishop Tighe noted that today almost no one belongs solely to a single culture. Each of us carries within us a heritage shaped by family, country, education, and profession. And it is precisely through encounters with other cultures that we come to understand ourselves more deeply — something our Lay Centre community experiences continually.
God Loves Us First
During the Holy Mass, Bishop Tighe reflected on the love that became flesh — the love that, in Christ, took on a human face, becoming close and visible. Jesus showed us what true love looks like: it cares, heals, shows compassion, and touches wounds — both physical and spiritual, he noted.
Christ also revealed that love is not exempt from the cross. At times, love itself leads us along a path marked by suffering and sacrifice, the Bishop added. We do not choose our crosses; they become part of our lives, even when we seek to do good. Yet God invites us not to run from them, but to follow Christ — carrying them with dignity as our response to His call. God loved us first, he said.
